Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera used to play for the Chicago Bears and tried to help out his former team with a timeout on Thursday night. The Bears are going through an intense kicking competition and before kicker Elliott Fry attempted a 43-yard kick, Rivera called a timeout.
“You know what is funny, I did that to help the Bears because they are in a kicking contest,” Rivera said via ESPN.
There was some speculation that Bears coach Matt Nagy and Rivera were working together on the plan, but Nagy denied that after the game.
“No, it wasn't planned, but I'm kind of glad he did it,” Nagy said with a smile.
Fry's 43-yard kick had a lot of significance to the Bears because it was from the exact same distance that Cody Parkey missed his kick during the playoffs. The kick on Thursday night was also facing the exact same direction of the one that Parkey missed.
Fry did make the kick and that is key as he tries to win the kicking competition against Eddy Pineiro.
“You could feel it,” Nagy said about Fry's make. “You could sense it, from all the fans, and I looked over and I said — after the completion down the middle, and then they spotted it, and I'm so used to seeing — like my math is really good right now. I can figure out real quick how far a field goal kick is from the spot of the ball, so I realized it was 43. Am I right? Yeah, then Coach Rivera pops a timeout, too.”
Pineiro struggled, missing a 48-yard field goal, so right now it appears Fry has a leg up on his competition.
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