Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower found a lot to like about how his special teams unit played in the Chicago Bears 31-3 win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 15 at Soldier Field.
Devin Duvernay started the game with a 53-yard kickoff return. Tory Taylor punted a ball 45 yards after the Bears went three-and-out, and Josh Blackwell prevented the ball from reaching the end zone, and Jaylon Jones downed the football at the Browns' one-yard line.
“It's credit to the guys for going out and executing the game plan,” Hightower said. “I really love the way we started off the game, it’s something that we really wanted to do.”
Not all special team moments were great for the Bears
Special teams set the tone initially, but a 14-play, 60-yard drive in the second quarter brought that sense of accomplishment down. After Myles Garrett sacked Caleb Williams on third-and-goal, the Bears were forced to attempt a 35-yard field goal.
In today's NFL, that is known as a chip shot, and Cairo Santos was 8-8 from 30-39 yards out this season. Santos’ kick went right, and the Bears came away with no points.
“That's a play obviously – if you want to talk about a little bit of an eyesore for the game,” Hightower said. “But first of all, I thought he (Santos) did an outstanding job on kickoff. Before we talk about that, I will say that I thought he was a weapon on that. But on the field goal the protection was excellent, and we've got to make that kick, it's under 35 yards. He knows that. I mean, anything under 40, we’ve got to make that kick. The operation was not clean enough. Cairo knows that, Tory (Taylor) knows that, Scott (Daly) knows that. Anything that close, we have to come away with points.”
Both teams were playing in frigid temperatures last Sunday in Chicago, but Hightower didn't believe the elements had anything to do with Santos missing the kick.
“No excuse under 35 yards,” Hightower said. “We’ve got to do that. Under 40, it’s got to be done.”
Santos is 21 for 26 on field goal attempts this season, converting on 80.8%. If the season ended today, that would be the lowest field goal percentage mark in his career with at least 10 games played in a season.
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But there are three games left in the regular season, and two are at Soldier Field. Santos still has time to find his footing as the Bears prepare to make a playoff push.