The Bears left Atlanta with a 31-23 win, but one snap may have told a bigger story than the final score. Early in the game, Chicago sent Cairo Santos out for a 56-yard field goal attempt, and it came up short - a miss that looked like a questionable call from Ben Johnson from the jump.
That one kick fit a larger concern that’s starting to hang over Chicago: Santos doesn’t have much margin from distance. He is now 8/11, and his limitations beyond a certain range are becoming harder to ignore.
Johnson’s offense can paper over that issue most weeks, especially when Chicago is rolling and has the better roster on the field. But that won’t make the problem disappear when the games get tighter and the competition gets better.
That’s where the worry starts to sharpen. In playoff football, drives that stall just outside comfortable field-goal range can decide everything. Chicago may have to be more aggressive in those moments, and the offense may be asked to stay on the field longer because of Santos’ range limitations.
It also gives the Bears a reason to at least start thinking about the position’s future. A midseason move feels unlikely, and kickers are rarely traded anyway, but that doesn’t mean the issue goes away. There just isn’t much of a workaround if the game comes down to a kick from deep.
For now, Johnson’s attack has very few weak spots and can overwhelm teams on plenty of Sundays. Still, the reality is that January football tends to expose the smallest flaws, and Chicago’s kicking game may be one of them. Santos can handle the short and middle distances, but the league is increasingly asking more from specialists, and the Bears will have to decide how long they’re comfortable living with that limitation.
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