Chicago Bears kicker Cairo Santos was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week following his performance in a 22-16 overtime win over the Green Bay Packers.
In windy conditions in prime time at Soldier Field, Santos connected on all three of his field goal attempts — from 46, 51 and 43 yards — where he was the team’s offense until the final minute of the fourth quarter. He also connected on his lone extra point attempt.
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Santos pulled the Bears to within seven points with his 43-yard field goal with 1:59 remaining, and he followed that up with an onside kick that was recovered by Bears cornerback Josh Blackwell. That led to the game-tying touchdown from Caleb Williams to Jahdae Walker and later the game-winning score in overtime from Williams to DJ Moore.
“He did a phenomenal job,” Johnson said. “That’s a big asset for us. He’s been here. He understands that wind. He does a great job in practice. He gets a lot of time on task with it. I thought he handled it really well. Huge reason why he got a game ball.”
Santos is the fifth Bears player to earn “player of the week” honors this season. Past winners include: quarterback Caleb Williams (Week 3), cornerback Josh Blackwell (Week 4), tight end Colston Loveland (Week 9) and linebacker D’Marco Jackson (Week 15). Cornerback Nahshon Wright also earned NFC Defensive Player of the Month for his November outings.
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears K Cairo Santos named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week