One of the most puzzling decisions by the Bears in Sunday’s 25-20 loss to the Eagles came near the end of the second half when they elected to punt from Philadelphia’s 31-yard line rather than trot out Cairo Santos to attempt a 49-yard field goal.
But, I think the question on everyone’s mind is: Why?
“His kick line was 27 yards with the wind today,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said after the game. “When it was there at the 31, we were out of our kick line there. We were going to take a delay, punt and pin. Did a pretty good job of punting and pinning today. He did a pretty good job.”
Santos added that he and the team decided any field goal attempts longer than 45-plus would be risky given the windy conditions.
“We didn’t feel like above 45 (yards) was a kick that was good to risk field position,” Santos said, via NBC Sports Chicago. “It was just out of the range.
“A kick at the end of the half or the end of the game, I think I could’ve gotten it from 49, but like I said, not the one to give up field position.”
Santos has usually been Mr. Reliable since taking over as Chicago’s starting kicker in 2020. But he’s notably struggled with extra points this season. He missed an extra point in Sunday’s loss to the Eagles, his fifth of the season.
So is it a psychological thing with Santos?
“I think it’s just execution,” Eberflus said. “You look at the details of where everything is. The snap, the hold, the plant foot, all those things that we look at with detail. Just look at it that way.
“It’s just like anything else, any other skill that you’re trying to do, it’s about the details of it. Just got to look hard at that. We’re going to continue to coach him up and Cairo is going to be fine.”
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