Chicago Bears: 5 Players who exceeded expectations

These Chicago Bears players played better than expected

The Chicago Bears had a complete roller coaster of a season. A 5-1 start led to a six-game losing streak which then led to the Bears somehow sneaking into the playoffs at 8-8. They got embarrassed on Nickolodeon getting completely shut down by the New Orleans Saints, but they still made the playoffs.

Ryan Pace made plenty of questionable moves this offseason. Some paid off, and some didn’t, but he still made some exceptional moves now looking back in hindsight specifically the 2020 NFL Draft in general.

These players played a big part though in the Bears having a solid season. With all the issues with the playcalling, quarterback play, offensive line, and others, these players stepped up to help the team make the playoffs with key wins near the end of the season. Here are these players.

Cairo Santos, Kicker

The Bears finally fixed their kicking woes. Ever since the Bears let go of Robbie Gould following the 2015 season, they have had a revolving door of various kickers that could never seem to stick. They finally thought they solved that issue in 2018 when they signed Cody Parkey to a nice deal for him to lose them a playoff game with the infamous “Double Doink.”

Cairo Santos wasn’t even expected to start this season. The Bears traded a seventh-round pick for Eddy Pineiro last season and he was back this season as well. Pineiro couldn’t stay healthy though and Santos took advantage of that as he made an outstanding 93.8% of his field goal attempts, a team record. He additionally set the team record making 27 straight field goals as well.

Santos isn’t under contract next season, so the Bears need to find a way to retain him next season. They can’t let another kicker who proved good for them get away setting them once again into kicker purgatory.