It was a redemptive moment for the veteran kicker.
Seven minutes earlier, Santos hit the inside of the right upright on a 53-yard try that would’ve given the Bears a two-score lead midway through the fourth quarter. Frustrated by the miss, and knowing he could convert from that distance, Santos wasn’t intimidated by the longer attempt, with a chance to ice the game on the line.
He needed that redemption.
“I’ve been super frustrated,” Santos admitted to Jeff Joniak in a postgame interview. “I feel like I’m very close every game to having an outstanding game that helps the team, where I make all my kicks. [Missed from] 53, 56 last week. I feel like I’m so close, and I’m making those kicks all day in practice and pregame. So to have it happen in the game, I’ve been so frustrated.”
While Santos wanted vindication for the miss, he really wanted to help his team win a primetime game on a short week, stack back-to-back victories and improve to 5-2. The 58-yarder was a gutsy call by Johnson – if Santos had missed the field goal, the Bears would have given the ball back to Patriots quarterback Drake Maye with around 90 seconds to play around midfield.
Despite his frustration at not having a perfect game, including after the game when he met with the media, Santos set his emotions aside when he ran out for the 58-yard try.
“Tough week,” Santos said. “Tough opponent. Man, these guys are good. And really tough kick. You miss that kick, and you’re giving the ball to a really good player like Drake Maye and a good team that was finding their groove in the second half. So I’m glad I was able to make it and put the game away.”
As soon as the kick sailed through the uprights, Santos was swarmed by his teammates, starting with punter Tory Taylor and All-Pro guard Joe Thuney, who were just as hyped as the kicker.
While Santos had the confidence to hit from 58 yards out, reassurance from Johnson, Hightower and his teammates, including quarterback Caleb Williams, didn’t hurt.
“That’s my guy, Cairo,” Williams said. “We believe in each other. Whenever anything happens, Cairo misses, cool. I’ve got your back, the defense has got your back. When maybe we don’t score, Cairo has our back. And that’s the type of guy Cairo is.
“He said at the end that he wanted to have our back, ‘Put me out there on the field.’ And that’s why Coach puts trust in him. We trust him, and that’s what we are; we trust each other.”
Johnson called the decision to go for the kick a “close” one, but once he sent the field goal unit out, he trusted the group to get it done. He recognized the play in the postgame locker room celebration by giving Santos one of four game balls from the primetime win.
“It’s one of those things, a lot of time and effort goes into it,” Johnson said. “Our process pregame tells us a lot about how he’s feeling and what we feel like those maximum distance lines are. One, we felt good about being inside that line, and two, we asked him. He said, ‘Absolutely, I need redemption because I missed one earlier.’
“He came through for us in a big way.”