Chicago Bears 2022 season in review: Grading the special teams

Kicker

Cairo Santos‘ career surged when he signed with the Chicago Bears in 2020. He spent his previous six seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, and a previous stint in Chicago.

In that time before he had his second stint in Chicago, he completed 80.5 percent of his field goals. Since 2020, however, he’s connected on 90.6 percent of his field goal attempts. He even broke the Bears’ franchise record for consecutive field goals made. He earned a long-term contract as a result.

In 2022, Santos continued to be successful. He made 91.3 percent of his field goal attempts, including 4 of 5 from beyond 50 yards.

The problem came with the point after attempts. He has made 95.1 percent of his extra point attempts. In 2022, though, he missed a career-high five attempts. His percentage was just 84.4 percent.

Some of those extra point misses really hurt the team. Against the Detroit Lions in Week 10, for example, Justin Fields had an incredible touchdown run late in the game that gave the Bears a lead. Santos missed the extra point, however. The Lions then went down and scored a touchdown and made their extra point attempt and escaped with a 31-30 victory.

Fans worry about Santos’ misses. However, it could just be a mental thing he had. As mentioned earlier, he is usually dependable. Seeing as how he continued to enjoy a lot of success kicking field goals, there is likely just a mental adjustment he needs to make.

Poles might want to give Santos some competition in the offseason. Pehaps that competition shows that Santos isn’t guaranteed a spot on the roster. However, unless Poles finds a kicker with a powerful leg (something Santos lacks), expect Santos to return next season. Grade: B-