Bears kicker Cairo Santos bookended the fourth quarter with a missed field goal and a botched kickoff that contributed to the Vikings’ 27-24 come-from-behind win Monday night at Soldier Field.
“I definitely felt like I didn’t help the team in every opportunity I got today,” Santos said. “That’s always going to bother me.”
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Santos pushed a 50-yard field goal wide right. It would have given the Bears a 14-point lead; rather, the Vikings got the ball at the 40-yard line and scored a touchdown six plays later.
Santos said he was “licking his chops” before the kick. The quarter break gave his extra time to prepare. After working on his distance all offseason, the kick didn’t seem far.
“It really felt like an easy kick with the conditions. …” he said. “Disappointed that I hit it poorly when I’ve been hitting those kicks so well.”
After the Bears scored a touchdown to go down three with 2:02 to play, Santos was told to boot the ball through the back of the end zone so the Vikings have to run one offensive play before the two-minute warning. Instead, his kickoff landed in the middle of the end zone — in returner Ty Chandler’s arms. Chandler glanced toward his own sideline, saw coach Kevin O’Connell waiving him to come out, and ran the ball to the 26, chewing up seven seconds.
By the time the Bears got the ball back, there were only 9 seconds left in the game. Johnson believed the Bears would have had 56 seconds to play had the ball gone through the end zone.
“The intent was for the ball to go out of the end zone,” he said.
Asked about the final kickoff, Bears coach Ben Johnson said ‘the intent was for the ball to go out of the end zone.’
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Evaluating five aspects of the Bears in their 27-24 season-opening loss to the Vikings.
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ESPN charted Williams as throwing off target on 47% of his passes in the second half. Coach Ben Johnson liked his start but said the completions “certainly felt like they dried up a little bit.”
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