Is Jake Moody just a one-hit wonder or the Bears' permanent kicker moving forward?

The Chicago Bears have themselves a three-game winning streak. Do they also have a kicker controversy?

In the NFL's quirky world of kickers, teams sometimes go with the hand. Er, foot. The Buffalo Bills, for example, started the season with Tyler Bass. When he suffered an injury before Week 1, they signed veteran Matt Prater off his couch. All he's done is make 10 of 11 field goals - including a game-winner to beat the Ravens in the opener. As for Bass, he's eligible to come off Injured Reserve but ...

Enter the Bears, Cairo Santos and Jake Moody.

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Santos is the most accurate kicker in the history of the Bears (89.2 percwnr) and Soldier Field (88.7). He's also a team captain. But he knows full well how this works. How did get the Bears' job in the first place? During 2020 training camp Eddy Pineiro suffered an injury and, sure enough, he took the job anad never let it go.

Until ... now?

Santos has proven reliable and durable (Sunday was his first game missed because of injury in six years), but his lack of a big leg in today's NFL where 55-yarders are now chip shots is concerning. He missed a 50-yarder in Week 1 against the Vikings that proved a play that fueled Minnesota's comeback.

Moody has made a 57-yard field goal in the NFL; Santos' career-best is 55 and he is only 66 percent from 50+ yards.

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He injured his kicking leg against the Las Vegas Raiders, and it has lingered. The Bears, who smartly signed the former third-round draft pick as insurance after he was cut by the San Francisco 49ers after Week 1, elevated Moody from the practice squad last week.

Moody's response? He hit four field goals, including the 38-yard game-winner to beat the Washington Commanders at misty, wet and windy Northwest Stadium. Teammates hoisted their new teammate on their shoulders. Ben Johnson gave him a game ball.

From the outhouse ... to the penthouse.

“I wasn’t surprised at all,” Johnson said this week of Moody's performance. “We’ve seen him in practice now for a number of weeks and we know what he’s capable of. He’s made big kicks in big games over the course of his career so far. None of that was surprising. I think that’s who he is and I think that change of scenery was good for him.”

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Moody also knows how the NFL kicking carousel works, saying "You're only as good as your next kick."

The only question is whether his next kick will be back on the practice squad, or Sunday in Soldier Field against the New Orleans Saints.

Halas Hall has a decision to make.

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