In the final moments of the fourth quarter in their loss to the Minnesota Vikings, the Chicago Bears and kicker Cairo Santos faced crucial situations where they came up short.
Not only did Santos miss a 50-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, but after Chicago narrowed the Vikings’ lead to three points, with 2:02 left on the clock, Santos kicked the ball off to Minnesota, giving the a chance to return it and run time off the clock.
With just one timeout and the two minute warning remaining, it was critical for the Bears to make sure the Vikings did not have a chance to run more time off the game clock, and Santos should’ve kicked the ball out of bounds rather than to them.
After the game, head coach Ben Johnson spoke to reporters and was asked about the kickoff to Minnesota, and Johnson explained what was supposed to happen and ultimately didn’t.
“The intent was for the ball to go out of the end zone,” he said.
Johnson also noted that the team also considered attempting an onside kick in that situation.
“Yeah, we did (consider the onside),” he said. “But we felt like if we would’ve kicked it out of the end zone and got the three-and-out that we got, we would’ve gotten the ball back with around 56 seconds.”
From the missed field goal to poor handling of the critical late-game kickoff, Santos did not have the game he or the Bears would’ve liked. There was more to the loss than just Santos, however, as accuracy issues plagued quarterback Caleb Williams and the team as a whole was undisciplined, committing 12 penalties for 127 yards.
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Ben Johnson explains what was supposed to happen on Bears’ final kickoff
Reporting by Mike Pendleton, Bears Wire / Bears Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
