After getting off to an ugly start in the spring, the Bears kicking competition is suddenly starting to heat up. 

Although kicking battles don't usually make headlines during training camp, the competition in Chicago has been the talk of the town, with everyone from airport gate agents to taxi drivers wondering how the Bears are going to replace Cody Parkey. 

The two candidates for the kicking job are Eddy Pineiro and Elliott Fry, and so far, things have been almost dead even, well, except for one kick. The most impressive kick of Bears training camp so far came over the weekend when Pineiro drilled a 63-yard field goal. 

If you need an idea of just how crazy this competition has gotten with Bears fans, just watch video below. As Piniero lines up to attempt the kick, fans start chanting his name, which might actually mark the first time in football history that a kicker has had his name chanted at a training camp practice.

Here's a look at Piniero's 63-yard kick, which made it with room to spare. 

To put that kick in perspective, if it had happened in a game, it would have been the second-longest field goal in NFL history (The record for longest field goal is 64 yards). 

The crazy thing about Piniero's kick is that he actually asked the coaching staff to move him back that far. After watching Fry hit a 60-yarder over the weekend, Piniero wanted to one-up his competition. 

"You know you gotta come out and try to do better than the next guy," Pineiro said on Sunday. "The goal is being better than the next guy. (Fry) said 60 yesterday, alright, I'm going 63. I'm not going 60."

After watching a group of nearly 10 kickers struggle in the spring, Bears coach Matt Nagy seems thrilled to have an actual competition brewing. 

"How do you not love two kickers battling for one spot competing their tails off after everything that's gone on with our team and our city," Nagy said over the weekend, via NBC Sports Chicago. "I appreciate that."

To keep either of the kickers from getting tired, the Bears have had them switching off days, which meant that Fry kicked on Saturday while Pineiro kicked on Sunday. The formula continued this week with Fry kicking Monday and Pineiro kicking Tuesday. 

Most kicking competitions aren't set up like that and Fry is a big fan of how the Bears have decided to handle things. 

"No. 1, it lets us rest our legs," Fry said. "Obviously that's a big deal with kickers, making sure you're fresh every day, but I think just not having a confusion in getting some rhythm going, you know that today's your day, just like it would be in a game. You're not going to be in the season splitting reps between someone. It's going to be your day and you're going to go for it. So I think it's making it as game-like as possible."

It's a good thing Nagy doesn't have to make a kicking decision any time soon because things have been dead even. Through four days of competition, each kicker has missed three field goals, with two of Pineiro's misses coming on Tuesday. 

After one more week of practice, the real test for the kickers will come Aug. 8 when the Bears host the Panthers in their first preseason game of the year.