Bear Digest

Cairo Santos and Devin Duvernay earn places amid Bears comeback run

Two more players have made their marks for the Bears in a season of wild comebacks and didn't do it by passing, catching or running it from scrimmage.
Gene Chamberlain|
Cairo Santos and Devin Duvernay showed special teams can get in on the late-game comeback streak for the Bears.
Cairo Santos and Devin Duvernay showed special teams can get in on the late-game comeback streak for the Bears. | Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

In this story:

Chicago Bears

This whole thing about winning games in the closing seconds already had included special teams, back when the Bears beat the Raiders on a Week 4 blocked kick.

It was their turn again after the offense struggled with handling Brian Flores' blitzes and the defense had been solid but faltered in the end.

Devin Duvernay's 56-yard kick return set it all up, and then Cairo Santos capped off another Bears comeback win with his 48-yard field goal after missing from 45 yards earlier.

"It's amazing, especially just to see how we're winning games," Santos said. "We saw the opposite of that (last year).

"Even with the special teams, we felt like we had trust in each other. I think we've grown so much to learn to win these games, and it's amazing to see kind of week-in and week-out you are in these games and you just kind of know guys are going to step in and when it's your turn you've got to do it for each other."

Santos had set the Bears franchise record for most field goals from 50 yards or longer in a career (24) with a 54-yarder for a 13-3 lead in the third quarter, then added another. He made a 61-yarder in warmups, but none of that mattered when he missed.

He went to try a 45-yarder in the fourth quarter and could have put the Bears ahead 19-10 with 8:13 left. It seemed like an automatic. Yet, he missed wide left.

Then, thanks to Duvernay's 56-yard kick return after the Bears defense faltered, Santos got another chance.

"I had full confidence that I was going to put that ball through and bounce back from the previous miss," Santos said.

The Bears kicker was almost shocked when he missed the 45-yarder.

"Especially after you've made some big kicks earlier in the game like this, I was in such a good rhythm, such good confidence going into that kick and to miss it in any way it's frustrating."

The Bears special teams looked like goats another time, and that’s not goats as in greatest of all time. They gave up the 41-yard Myle Price punt return to trigger the start to Minnesota’s comeback from a 16-3 deficit in the fourth quarter with a touchdown drive.

So the Bears kick return unit was only glad to return the favor.

Duvernay has been better most of the season on punt returns than kicks. However, the script flipped on the kick after Jordan Addison’s 15-yard touchdown catch put the Vikings ahead 17-16.

Duvernay caught it along the far right sideline and the return was to come across the field.

"Just lot of green grass and eyes lit up," Duvernay told reporters afterward. "It was the moment to make a play.

"Honestly, I was just trying to get down the sideline, maximize the return and just put ourselves in real good position to get some points to win the game."

Duvernay wanted to credit the 56-yard return design more than his own efforts. He got a big block on it from Josh Blackwell.

"Just the design of the play, where it's supposed to hit and we executed it almost perfectly."

Special teams treats its chances to win close games just like the Bears offense and defense.

"We're there to impact games and hopefully win the game for the team," Duvernay said. "We stay with it. It's not always pretty but HT (special teams coordinator Richard Hightower) preaches staying with it, and we can help this team win. And he preaches impact.

"We didn't waver. It was just staying level-headed."

It's something that's going around with this entire roster now after three comeback wins in a row and five on the season.

"We always find a way to make it interesting," Duvernay said.

That’s offense, defense and special teams.

More Chicago Bears News

X: BearsOnSI

Published | Modified
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.