The Chicago Bears have decided that placekicker Cairo Santos needs some competition. Santos missed a field goal attempt Monday night in the season opener against the Minnesota Vikings and nearly missed another, so the the Bears have signed Jake Moody to the team's practice squad to see what he is capable of doing. Moody struggled last week while kicking for the San Francisco 49ers and that team cut him this week.

The Bears suffered a 27-24 defeat in the season opener against the Minnesota Vikings even though they outplayed their NFC North rivals for the first three quarters of the game. The Vikings came back to score three consecutive fourth quarter touchdowns as the Bears looked hopeless to stop Minnesota when the game was on the line.

The Bears were clearly disappointed with their Week 1 results and it appears that Santos is having to bear at least a portion of the blame. Bears fans don't seem to understand the team's reaction in putting some portion of the loss on the shoulders of Santos.

The decision to bring Moody in to take a spot on the Bears practice squad came shortly after he was named one of the team's co-captains.

While some of the reactions to bringing in competition for Santos questioned the Bears, one observer said that bringing in competition for the kicker sent an important message to the team. That message is that production must be consistent from every player.

Bears have gotten consistent production from Santos

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Kurtis Rourke (4)***San Francisco 49ers place kicker Jake Moody (4) makes a kick during the first half against Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field.
Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Santos is in his 12th year in the NFL and his seventh season with the Bears. He had his best season in 2023 when he made 35 of 38 field goal attempts and scored 136 points.

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He had another solid season last year as he connected on 21 of 25 three-point attempts. Santos has been sensational on his long-distance FG attempts. He made 7 of 8 attempts from 50 yards or more in 2023 and 8 of 9 last season.

He missed a 50-yard attempt against the Vikings Monday night.

In addition to kicking for the Bears, Santos has also kicked for the Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Rams.

Moody was selected by the 49ers in the third round of the 2023 draft after successfully kicking for Michigan. He had an excellent rookie season as he made 21 of 25 field goal attempts as well as 60 of 61 extra points.

Moody was not as good last year, making 24 of 34 three-pointers. He had a disastrous opening game of the season, missing all three of his FG attempts against the Seattle Seahawks and the Niners decided to part company with him.