Cairo Santos Puts His Best Foot Forward
Bears kicker Cairo Santos is showing form similar to 2020, when he went on a streak that carried over into early 2021 of 40 straight field goals.
In fact, he's been even better since his range has been longer.
Often underappreciated for the duties he performs in harsher elements than many kickers, Santos has now been recognized with NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors for his effort against the New England Patriots.
Santos made kicks of 42, 23, 38 and 50 yards in wet conditions at Foxborough, Mass on Monday Night Football.
His three extra points made it 15 points, high for the league last week.
Santos has made 4 of 4 from 50 yards or longer this year. In 2020 and 2021 he had been 2 of 5 total from 50 yards or longer.
Currently, Santos has made 17 straight field goals and for this year he is 11 of 11. The streak of 17 straight dates back to Week 15 of last season and is the longest current streak in the NFC.
Only the Raiders' Daniel Carlson has a longer current active streak in the league. He has made 39 straight. The NFL record is 47 straight
In terms of actually missing his mark, Santos hasn't really done this since Thanksgiving last year because his last missed field goal was a blocked 49-yarder at Soldier Field against the Vikings last season in the 17-9 Bears loss.
Prior to the blocked kick, he hadn't missed since a 53-yarder at Ford Field on Thanksgiving went wide.
Santos was a special teams player of the week in 2020 for the Bears when he made a career-long 55-yard field goal and two other field goals against Carolina.
The last Bears player to win special teams player of the week was punt returner Jakeem Grant for Week 14 last year, when he returned a punt 97 yards for a touchdown against Green Bay.
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