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A 58-yard field goal from Cairo Santos bailed out Caleb Williams late in Thursday night’s game after the Bears quarterback took a costly sack and almost knocked Chicago out of field goal range during a 30-24 win over the Patriots in Chicago.
The kick was the longest that Santos has kicked in his career, extending the Bears’ lead and preventing Drake Maye and the Patriots’ offense from getting the ball in good field position.
The play before on a third-and-5, Williams dropped back to pass, but instead of finding a receiver, he started to scramble before being gobbled up by the defense and losing 10 yards.
The sack set up a long field goal for Santos.
The 13-year veteran NFL kicker put it through the uprights with 1:34 remaining to give Chicago a nine-point lead.
“These nights are awesome,” Williams said. “You play against another good team on a primetime game in a short week, these games are awesome because you get to see who you are as a team. That’s who we are. We’re a smashmouth football team, an innovative team. And when things happen and things don’t go our way and the water is rocky, we stay steady.”
It was a bit of a redemption story for Santos, who had failed to help the Bears take a two-score lead earlier in the fourth quarter.
A 53-yard miss — which hit off the right crossbar — with eight minutes left allowed the Patriots to hang around a little longer.
Luckily for Santos and the Bears, he made sure to make his next kick.
The Patriots were held to just a field goal on their subsequent drive, and they couldn’t recover the onside kick, sealing the win for the Bears. It was the Patriots’ first loss since Week 3.
— with AP