One of the most underrated aspects of the Chicago Bears' heartbreaking 28-21 loss to the Green Bay Packers was the special teams performance.
There were discussions about Bears kicker Cairo Santos's struggles on kickoffs, which gave the Packers an advantage in field position. Santos seemed inconsistent in getting it to the landing zone, which often gave Green Bay a good starting position on their offensive drives.
Late in the second quarter, Santos was penalized for failing to get the ball to the landing zone, and the Packers started at their own 40-yard line. Green Bay only needed four plays to score a touchdown right before the end of the half.
At the midway point in the fourth quarter, Santos knocked the ball out of the end zone for a touchback. The Packers ended up taking the ball from their own 35-yard line and again scored a touchdown on the drive, giving them a 28-21 lead, which they held on to.
Bears coach was brutal about Santos' play
With reporters being able to get in front of Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower, they got a chance to ask him about the kickoff issues from Santos. They wondered whether the cold temperatures were a factor in the game, but Hightower did not place any blame on the weather.
"He just didn't hit a good ball."
Not to pin everything on Santos, with some of the special teams struggles in the game, as the kickoff coverage was not exactly the strongest. Three times in the second half, the Packers were able to get past the 25-yard line on returns, including a third-quarter return to the Packers' 37-yard line, ending in a touchdown.
There was a direct correlation between the Packers' good field position and touchdowns. The Bears' giving Green Bay extra yardage ended up hurting them.
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While there might be focuses on the Bears' defense allowing big plays and Caleb Williams being inaccurate with the football, don't sleep on the fact that special teams has to improve moving forward on kickoffs as well.