Tag: nfc special teams player of the month

Bears K Cairo Santos named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month

Santos’ performance over the last four games in Chicago’s push for the postseason earned him NFL Special Teams Player of the Month honors.

While the Chicago Bears have plenty of questions to answer following the 2020 season, one of those is not at the kicker position.

Cairo Santos started the season as an “in case of emergency” option for the Bears when Eddy Pineiro went down with a groin injury. But Santos quickly established himself as the answer to Chicago’s kicker woes.

Santos has been impressive all season, but especially as the Bears battled to secure a wild-card spot over the last month. Santos’ performance has earned his NFC Special Teams Player of the Month honors for December.

In the last four games, Santos made all nine of his field goals in three victories for the Bears.

Santos hasn’t just been good, he’s been record-breaking for the Bears. Santos connected on his final 27 field-goal attempts this season, which eclipsed the mark of 26 in a row set by Robbie Gould back in 2005-06. Santos’ last miss came in Week 3 against the Atlanta Falcons.

This season, Santos connected on 30-of-32 field goals, converting 93.8% of his kicks, which is also another single-season record. Santos once again topped Gould’s previous mark of 89.7% back in 2008 and 2013.

When your kicker is breaking records set by arguably Chicago’s best kicker in franchise history, you know you’ve got something special. Santos is set to hit the open market after this season, but the Bears will likely lock him down long-term before that can happen.

[listicle id=465562]

 

Falcons K Younghoe Koo is the NFL’s scoring leader

Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo has scored 119 points for the team in 2020, the most in the NFL.

Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo has scored 119 points in 2020, the most in the NFL. Koo has racked up 96 of those points from field goals, making 32 of his 33 attempts this season.

Atlanta’s new No. 7 has also converted a league-high seven field goals from 50 yards or more.

Since the Falcons’ bye week, Koo has outscored the rest of the team, 38-30. Koo netted six field goals against New Orleans in Week 11 and 13 combined. He also added five more to his total during the team’s 43-6 blowout over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 12.

Koo appears to be headed to his first Pro Bowl in just his first full season as a starting NFL kicker.

[lawrence-related id=61988,61980,61981,61979,61937]

[vertical-gallery id=61950]

Younghoe Koo named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month

The Atlanta Falcons may have struck gold when they took a chance on kicker Younghoe Koo at midseason in 2019.

The Atlanta Falcons may have struck gold when they took a chance on kicker Younghoe Koo at midseason in 2019. Koo played well down the stretch last season but has taken his game to another level this year.

Thus far in 2020, the Falcons kicker has made 29 out of 30 field goal attempts, while converting on 22 of 25 extra points. Koo’s performance over the last few weeks was good enough to earn him the NFC Special Teams Player of the Month award for November.

Koo made all 14 of his field goal attempts this month, with four of them coming from 50 or more yards away.  He missed just one of his 10 extra point attempts. A week into Pro Bowl voting, Koo leads all NFC kickers.

Retweet the below link and help make sure Koo gets the credit he deserves for his outstanding performance this season.

[lawrence-related id=61769,61764,61744,61706]

[vertical-gallery id=61651]

 

Cordarrelle Patterson named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month

Cordarrelle Patterson became the first Bears player since Devin Hester to bring home NFC Special Teams Player of the Month honors.

Bears veteran Cordarrelle Patterson has been named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for his performance in November.

Patterson averaged 29.4 yards per return on 10 attempts, as well as had three special teams tackles for the Bears.

While his average for the month was down from his season average of 30.9 yards per return, Patterson made some clutch plays on special teams. In fact, he had three great plays against the Giants back in Week 12, including a touchdown-saving tackle of Jabrill Peppers and downing a Pat O’Donnell punt inside the 5-yard line as the Giants looked to mount a late comeback.

Last Thursday against the Lions, Patterson returned the opening kickoff 57 yards, which led to a Mitchell Trubisky to Allen Robinson touchdown. It was Patterson’s second-longest return of the season after his 102-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against the Saints on Oct. 20.

Patterson is the first Bear to be named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month since Devin Hester won the honor in Oct. 2011. It’s Patterson’s second time winning the award, the previous time coming as a rookie with the Vikings in September 2013.

[lawrence-related id=432290,432324,432340,432269]