Ben Johnson wastes no time bringing in some competition for a position that played a major role in the Bears’ Week 1 loss
It’s about time.
The Chicago Bears have wasted no time turning the page to the Week 2 matchup ahead against the Detroit Lions, following a disappointing loss to the Minnesota Vikings in the regular season opener.
While the team is eager to move on, it’s worth understanding some of the things that went wrong in Week 1 to avoid making some of the mistakes twice, and boy there were a lot of those.
Head coach Ben Johnson has shown a lot of accountability for some of the mistakes he personally made such as not calling enough runs and making the wrong decision on the final kickoff.
Speaking of which, the Bears are finally adding some competition to the roster to help reinforce the kicker position after the game Cairo Santos had on Monday night.
Bears adding former third-round pick Jake Moody to the practice squad
The Bears wasted no time bringing in a new kicker to the roster and made the smart decision to act quick in addressing the issue in the best possible way.
Earlier in the week, the San Francisco 49ers released former third-round pick Jake Moody in a somewhat shocking decision from the outside. However, Moody has consistently struggled for the 49ers after having a strong rookie season in 2023.
“His field goal percentage dipped from 84% as a rookie to 70% in his second season in 2024. He missed two more field goal attempts in San Francisco’s 17-13 win over Seattle in Week 1.” – via A to Z Sports writer Kyle Crabbs.
It’s not an immediate fix for the Bears’ kicking situation, but it does add some low-risk competition to the roster to see if Moody can push Santos after having a missed field goal of his own in Week 1.
“We never want to leave points on the board,” special teams coordinator Richard Hightower said on Thursday. “My diagnosis always starts with the operation – the snap, hold, and kick. That wasn’t clean, protection was good, that wasn’t clean and we didn’t get that done. And we need to get that done.”
Santos missing from range (missed from 50-yards against the Vikings) has been a reoccurring problem going back to last season. The Bears tried to bring in some competition during the offseason by signing UDFA Jonathan Kim, but Santos won the battle after drilling a 57-yarder in the preseason.
Clearly, the team felt the need to have another option at the position on the roster while still showing a little faith in Santos considering he’s still in the building.
“We trust our players and we’ll always communicate with them and we’ll always do the best thing that we feel for the team going forward,” Hightower added. “…Nobody feels worse about [what happened on Monday] than Cairo. Nobody does.”
Chicago Bears News
Bears late game clock management issue against the Vikings came down to one player who’s burned the team far too many times
A reoccurring problem at a critical position.
