Yesterday, the Chicago Bears named kicker Cairo Santos as their Special Teams Player of the Year, which was well deserved, because in a season full of clutch moments, Santos had a hand in several of their comebacks.<\/p>\n
His understanding of the Soldier Field winds is something he\u2019s learned in the last six years in Chicago, and it\u2019s helped make him the most accurate field goal kicker in team history.<\/p>\n
In the regular season, he made 25 of 30 field goals (83.3%) and all 39 extra points. In Chicago\u2019s two playoff games, Santos made all four extra points and all four field goals, including a postseason franchise record 51-yarder in their Wild Card win over the Green Bay Packers.<\/p>\n
He was a perfect four for four on field goals in the Bears\u2019 Week 4 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, earning his first game ball of the season.<\/p>\n
His last-second 48-yard field goal against the Minnesota Vikings earned him a second game ball, but more importantly, it gave us the Skol-Griddy.<\/p>\n
He was three for three on field goals, dribbled a beautiful onside kick that Josh Blackwell recovered, and hit the game-tying extra point against the Packers in a Week 16 win, which earned him the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week and a third game ball from head coach Ben Johnson.<\/p>\n
Santos started to make an impact for the Bears with the NFL\u2019s new dynamic kickoff rules, something Johnson acknowledged in November.<\/p>\n