The preseason is not the regular season, and nobody sensible should pretend otherwise. But if you are looking for a clean, confident way to finish August, Eddy Pineiro just provided it for the San Francisco 49ers: six field goals, six makes, and a 59-yard strike that turned a tight preseason finale into something that looked a lot more settled than it had any right to be.
Against the Las Vegas Raiders, the kicking game was not an afterthought. It was the difference. Pineiro kept delivering when the game tightened, and by the end of the night the 49ers had walked away with an 18-12 win and a preseason capstone that will at least leave their special teams unit feeling considerably better about itself.
Pineiro kept answering every test
The key sequence came with two minutes to go and the score tied 12-12. Pineiro stepped in and drilled a 51-yarder to put the Niners ahead 15-12, which already told you the evening was bending his way. But that was only part of the story. He also nailed a 59-yard kick during the game, the kind of long-range effort that is supposed to separate the merely competent from the genuinely dependable.
Then came the late finisher: a 54-yard field goal with under 10 seconds left. That made him 6-for-6 on the night and effectively slammed the door on the Raiders. For a preseason finale, that is about as authoritative as a kicker can look. There is no grand mystery here. Pineiro was accurate, calm, and long enough to stretch the field whenever the 49ers needed it.
A strong final word before the real thing begins
It is easy to overstate a preseason performance, and that would be a mistake here. Still, there is value in ending a month with clarity, and Pineiro gave the 49ers exactly that. He did not just make routine kicks. He handled pressure kicks, long kicks, and the kind of final-second attempt that can quietly shape the mood inside a team building toward Week 1.
The final score was 18-12, but the headline is simpler than that. Eddy Pineiro was perfect, the 49ers finished the preseason with a win, and special teams suddenly looks like a part of the roster that has a reason to feel pretty good about itself.
