CHICAGO — The storybook ending was in the Chicago Bears’ grasp.
Their rookie quarterback had engineered a last-minute drive to put them in position for a 46-yard, game-winning field goal.
They were going to beat the Packers for the first time in six years.
That would’ve been too easy and too clean. That’s not how this season has gone. Instead, Packers defensive lineman Karl Brooks got just enough of his hand on Cairo Santos’ kick, blocking the field goal and sending the Packers onto the field in delirium.
The 20-19 loss sent the Bears to 4-6, a four-game losing streak and a series-high 11-game losing streak against their rival.
“I wanted that moment so bad, and I still feel that I gave it a good chance,” Santos said. “Unfortunately it wasn’t in the cards for us to make that kick.”
THE FG IS BLOCKED FOR THE WIN!#GBvsCHI pic.twitter.com/zdxGIdJyZI
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) November 17, 2024
Roschon Johnson’s 2-yard run put the Bears at the Green Bay 28-yard line with 35 seconds left. They had one timeout and plenty of time to run another play, but coach Matt Eberflus chose to wind the clock down and kick on second down.
“They were loading the box there,” Eberflus said. “You could say you could do that for sure, maybe get a couple more yards, but you’re also going to risk fumbling and different things there. We felt where we were, if we’re at the 36 or 35, you definitely want to do that because you want to get it inside there. I felt very confident where we were at that time with the wind and where we were on the field.”
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We acknowledge that curses aren’t real and that what happened 11 years ago or five years ago has no bearing on what happened Sunday, but this isn’t the first time the Bears have had this happen to them. In overtime against the Vikings in 2013, Marc Trestman chose to have Robbie Gould attempt a 47-yard field goal on second down instead of getting closer. Gould missed and the Vikings kicked the game-winner on the ensuing possession.
In 2019, Matt Nagy elected to have Mitch Trubisky take a knee with 43 seconds left to set Eddy Piñeiro up for a 41-yard field goal on second down against the Chargers. He missed it and the Bears lost.
Normally, no one would question a 46-yard field goal to beat the Packers. But it’s the Bears, it’s this Bears team and this head coach, and when the kick is blocked, everything is scrutinized.
“I mean, sure, anytime you can add more yards, but I mean look they’re loading the box there at the end and kind of just is what it is,” tight end Cole Kmet said.
Packers players talked about attacking the middle of the Bears’ formation and that Santos’ longer-range kicks tend to be low.
Packers LB Edgerrin Cooper on Bears K Cairo Santos : “On film, on his past games, we seen him how he was kicking it low, so we knew we had a good chance [of blocking]. … We’ve been emphasizing it so much this week. Coach Rich, he even said he’ll be upset if we ain’t get one.”
— Kalyn Kahler (@kalynkahler) November 17, 2024
Then again, Santos has been nearly automatic this season — his 53-yarder earlier in the game got the Bears on the board. He had a miss in London after a high snap from replacement snapper Kmet. His other miss came from 56 yards out in Indianapolis.
“I mean, there’s a lot of positives out there. It just so happened that Cairo got his kick blocked today,” wide receiver DJ Moore said. “We’re going to back Cairo, but we could have done more to not even put him in that situation.”
Asked if he would’ve liked to see the team try to get closer, Moore responded, “Yeah, but we did what we did and we’re going to stick with that.”
It’s the second time in four weeks the Bears have lost in heartbreaking fashion and we’re discussing strategy with players. That doesn’t help a head coach with a record of 14-30.
The calculus is that a run play could go for a loss or, worse, lead to a fumble or penalty. It’s too risky to pass there, especially with quarterback Caleb Williams having been sacked twice earlier on the drive. Santos’ success from that range factored into Eberflus’ decision. A minimal run from Johnson shouldn’t have made much of a difference.
“That was a comfortable range there,” Santos said. “Left hash in that left-to-right wind. Everything felt great and it looked like the line that the ball was going was right down the middle. Hit it solid with my foot. So, operation was good — snap, hold — and they just made a good play with the penetration there.”
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Santos is one of three active players who has been with the Bears since 2020. He entered Sunday with an 0-8 record against the Packers. His 53-yarder was his seventh 50-plus field goal this season, tying a career high (and franchise record) set in 2023.
Going into the south end zone, Santos said his range was 57-58 yards. After the game, he watched the kick on his phone to try to see what went wrong. Snap was good, hold was good, he felt he kicked it well.
“I think they just made a play more than anything,” he said. “The ball looked like it was right on target, but in that situation, I’m always going to look at myself, at what I can do better. I like the way I hit the ball here, but maybe if I hit it a little higher that doesn’t happen. But they got enough penetration to make a play and credit to them.”
Long snappers don’t usually talk after games unless there was a game-winning kick or a game-losing one. Scott Daly, who grew up in Downers Grove, Ill., got bowled over after he snapped.
“I knew I was on my butt on that one,” he said. “I knew they were gonna bring pressure up the A-gaps and do something. They’re going to save their best play for their last. Just hard to tell. Once we watch the film tomorrow we’ll be able to figure out what exactly happened. It’s one of those things where it came down … they made one more play than we did.”
In 2013, the NFL changed the rules to classify long snappers as defenseless players. They can’t be hit in the head or neck, and a defender can’t line up over the snapper. It was a point of emphasis in 2018. No one lined up right over Daly, and it doesn’t appear there was any sort of “leverage,” which Gervon Dexter was flagged for in Arizona. But the Packers did attack the middle, and Daly hit the deck, along with Larry Borom. Brooks, who blocked the kick, got past Matt Pryor.
“I know what the rules are, I know what the rules are in terms of hitting the center and all of those things,” Eberflus said. “Again, I have to look at it. … I asked Tory (Taylor) and asked Cairo about it, and they loved the operation, where it was, snap, hold, kick, all that. So, we’ve just got to look at it.”
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Matt LaFleur is now 11-0 against the Bears as Packers head coach, and this was the closest one.
“I will say this: (special teams coordinator) Rich (Bisaccia) said to our team last night, I will not understand if we come out of this game without a block, whether field goal or PAT,” LaFleur said. “Great job by our special teams coaches.”
The Bears hadn’t had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead in the final minutes against the Packers since 2019. That’s how lopsided the series has gotten. Since at least 1972, this is the first time the Bears have lost to the Packers by three points or fewer when they had a chance to win or tie with a field goal at the end.
A 60-yard pass to wide receiver Christian Watson when Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson tripped led to the Packers taking the lead. The defense didn’t do a good enough job pressuring quarterback Jordan Love, finishing with only two QB hits and one sack. As Williams noted, the offense had the ball on the previous drive with a chance to go up two scores and wound up punting near midfield.
It’s a one-point game. A lot can be picked apart. In the end, the Bears had a great chance to beat their rival, but they’ve been on the losing side of games like this far too often.
(Photo: David Banks / Imagn Images)
