There were a lot of great performances from the Chicago Bears' miraculous 22-16 overtime win over the Green Bay Packers, but one isn't being talked about as much as it should be.
Chicago was windy in Week 16 against the Packers, so it became more of a mental game for Bears kicker Cairo Santos to make sure he nailed his field goals. Santos came through in the clutch with three field goals made, a critical extra point made to tie the game, and, before that, an onside kick conversion to give the Bears a chance.
Because Santos made some of the biggest plays of the game, Bears head coach Ben Johnson gave him one of the four game balls after the win. The NFL also acknowledged Santos' performance by giving them the Week 16 NFC Special Teams Player of the Week award.
Cairo Santos 100% deserved that award
Santos certainly took a beating from the Bears fan base at the beginning of the season after a missed field goal and a bad kickoff decision that cost them a 27-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1. Even an injury that kept him out for two games had every Bears fan calling for Jake Moody to be the permanent starter.
Through all of that, Santos has bounced back nicely as he has made 18 of 22 field goals and hasn't missed an extra point since returning from his injury. He has made 82.8% of his field goals this season without an extra point missed.
It certainly hasn't been an easy season for one of the team's captains. Still, when the team has needed him the most, Santos has come through from the game-tying extra point against the Packers to the game-winning field goal against the Minnesota Vikings to get his revenge in the second matchup.
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Bears fans have a different feeling about Santos now after showing that he can come up clutch in any environment.