Cairo Santos was by far one of the best stories of the Chicago Bears’ 2020 season. He was never supposed to even be a thing. The team had initially signed him as nothing more than insurance for then-starter Eddy Pineiro who was dealing with an injury. However, when it became clear Pineiro would take more time than expected to return? Santos got the nod to start. After a solid debut in Detroit, his track record for inconsistency creeped up against the Giants in Week 2.
This was something that haunted him for years. All the way back to 2017 when he was trying to recover from a groin injury that had cost him his job in Kansas City. Since then he’d failed to recapture the stroke that made him one of the most accurate kickers in the league. This inevitably caused Santos to put more and more pressure on himself. So how did it all change? He explained the watershed moment came in Week 3 against Atlanta when he pushed a 46-yard field attempt wide on the Bears’ opening possession.
“There was a little flashback that popped in my head of the previous teams I was on trying to come back from that (groin) injury and I always felt that pressure. I put that pressure on myself that this has to be the opportunity that I bounce back,” Santos said Friday at Halas Hall. “I thought about this with the Bucs, with the Titans, so there we go again, I missed a kick in Atlanta.”
Santos went to the sideline and spent a lot of time reflecting.
It would’ve been so easy to let things snowball from there. Similar to what happened with Cody Parkey in 2018. Sometimes when a kicker enters a funk, there is a just never getting out of it. As he waited, the veteran had a sort of epiphany moment. He would stop thinking about what if this or that happens. Instead, he’d leave the future out of his hands and just focus on the next kick.
“I just kind of accepted it as, if it’s meant to be, I’m gonna keep grinding so if I get another chance here in this game, I’m gonna attack that kick to make it,” Santos said. “If I’m done, I’ve gotta move on, because I keep trying (to be) and not being the guy I was in Kansas City. I felt like I started playing a little looser and put everything in God’s hands and went one kick at a time and here we are.”
Santos made the 35-yard attempt on the next drive. He would not miss a field goal the rest of the season. Going a perfect 27-for-27. It was the best run a Bears kicker has ever had, even topping the great Robbie Gould. Without him, there is no way the team survives long enough to make the playoffs. This is why the Bears were quick to reward him with a nice contract extension this offseason.
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Cairo Santos is a great reminder of perseverance
Success in the NFL or any professional sports is just as much mental as it is physical. The kicker never stopped being able to kick the ball well. It was a matter of recapturing the focus and confidence that made him so good in the first place. That he was able to do it in Chicago, a city plagued by problems at that position going back years? It seems rather poetic. Like two lost souls finding each other.
One thing is for sure. Cairo Santos isn’t about to get complacent. Not after what he experienced. Word out of training camp is he looks as sharp as ever. Young kicker Brian Johnson the Bears brought in has done a good job pushing him. All signs point to somebody who is back in his old form. At 29-years old, he has a chance to stay there for a long time to come.
That would serve Chicago perfectly.
Not having to worry about kickers would be a blessing for this organization. They can focus on the pressing matter of turning Justin Fields into a success. If he does, then Santos will be a busy man with a lot more field goals and extra point attempts to come. That would probably suit him just fine.