Bears kicker earns prestigious honor after dominate month

The Chicago Bears have themselves a special teams weapon who has become a true game changer over the past month, and he's earning a top honor for his efforts.

Bears kicker Cairo Santos was named the NFC's Special Teams Player of the Month for November. Santos joins Denver Broncos kicker Wil Lutz as the league's top special teams player from each conference over the past four weeks.

According to the Chicago Bears official team website, Santos is the first Bears player selected as a Player of the Month since Robert Quinn in November 2021. Santos is the first Bears special teams player to earn the honor since Cordarrelle Patterson in November 2019.

The Bears kicker went 12-14 on field goal attempts during the month of November, including going 3-3 on field goals of 50+ yards. Santos led the NFL in field goals made and kicking points scored (41). 

Santos earns his third career special teams player of the month honor (second with the Bears) and joins Kevin Butler and Robbie Gould as the only Bears kickers to earn the award twice, according to NFL Communications.

Santos was especially reliable in Week 10 against the Carolina Panthers and last Monday night against the Minnesota Vikings. Santos scored 22 combined points in the two games, both of which were decided by three or fewer points.

Santos passed Mac Percival for the 5th-most field goals made in Bears franchise history against the Vikings after recording his 101st field goal made with the team. Santos is also the most accurate kicker in Bears franchise history, making 101 of his 112 attempts with the team (90.2% accuracy).

The 10-year veteran continues to get better with age and has been the Bears most consistent player on the entire roster in 2023. It's great to finally see him getting his roses once again.