The Chicago Bears continue to find ways to win football games as evidenced by their 19-17 victory over the Minnesota Vikings, which featured two lead changes in the final minute. But thanks to the heroics of kicker Cairo Santos, Chicago was able to escape with a win. Although, for a moment, it didn’t feel like Santos would be hailed the hero.
For a moment, Santos looked to be one of the reasons why the Bears could lose after missing a 45-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter. Before that, Santos had connected on all three of his field goal attempts, including a season-long 54-yarder. But Santos booted the 45-yard attempt wide left and helped open the door for the Vikings to mount another fourth-quarter comeback.
Luckily, Santos got an opportunity to redeem himself after return specialist Devin Duvernay returned a kickoff 56 yards to set up a long field goal. The Bears offense moved the ball nine yards to make it easier, and Santos drilled the 48-yard game-winner. Following the game, Santos shared his mindset after the fourth-quarter miss and his desire to redeem himself.
“When the Vikings scored the touchdown [and the] extra point and went up one, in my head I’m just praying for an opportunity to make the game-winning kick,” Santos said, via Jeff Joniak on Marquee Sports Network’s Bears Postgame Live. “… and I want to be put in that situation like the team gave me at the end of the game. I’m always going to feel confident that I’m gonna come through. So just thankful for the whole team for the support and everything that goes into winning games like that.”
While Santos’ early fourth-quarter miss was a brutal one, it was far from the only reason that Chicago was in that situation at the end of the game. The offense continuously settled for field goals instead of capitalizing inside the red zone and just outside it, and it allowed Minnesota to stick around.
But, no matter how ugly these wins have been at times, the important thing is that the Bears continue to find ways to win. And they’ll never apologize for a win.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears K Cairo Santos shared his mindset before game-winning field goal
