Cairo Santos had no issues with the operation on the play that doomed the Bears. “The ball looked right on target. I like the way I hit the ball. 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.”
Bears kicker Cairo Santos dashed to his phone to find out what went wrong after Packers defensive lineman Karl Brooks blocked his 46-yard field goal as time expired to deny the Bears an invigorating victory.
He quickly got his answer: nothing.
In the aftermath of the Bears’ 20-19 loss Sunday at Soldier Field, there was no Tyrique Stevenson to blame for this failure — pending film review, of course. Santos tipped his cap to Packers special teams coordinator Rich Basaccia for a good play and vowed to be better next time.
“I think they just made a play more than anything,” Santos said after the 6-3, 296-pound Brooks penetrated the middle of the Bears line to block the kick. “The ball looked right on target. I like the way I hit the ball. 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.”
While this latest episode of Bears misery is unlikely to yield a culprit like Stevenson in the aftermath of the Hail Mary fiasco, the agonizing fail on the field goal attempt wasn’t quite that cut-and-dried.
