By now everybody knows the situation. Chicago Bears fans watched as rookie quarterback Mitch Trubisky almost came of age last Sunday. With his team down by three and under two minutes to go, he worked them down the field into position for a shot at a game-tying field goal. This was punctuated by a crazy 19-yard scramble on 4th and 13 to keep the drive alive. Easily the most heroic play a Bears quarterback has made in a long time.
A play later he hit Dontrelle Inman for a 15-yard play to set up a 46-yard field goal attempt with eight seconds to play. It was a tremendous job considering it was Trubisky’s 19th career start since he graduated high school. All the team had to do was hit the field goal to force overtime and he’d have a chance to complete his first comeback.
Problem is that put the game in the hands, or rather on the foot of kicker Connor Barth. Having endured over a season and a half of his erratic accuracy, few fans had any true hope he’d deliver when it mattered. They weren’t disappointed. Barth badly missed the kick wide right. To the surprise of nobody he was cut the next morning.
Bears fans sting Barth via his replacements’ Wikipedia page
Around that same time it was announced the team had signed 26-year old Cairo Santos as a replacement. The Brazilian-native had spent the past three seasons four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. Over that time he’d delivered an 84.8% accuracy rate on field goals including 88.6% in 2016. Unfortunately a groin injury early this season forced the Chiefs to cut him.
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That didn’t seem to bother Bears fans who decided to deliver one last jab at Barth via Santos’ Wikipedia page.
In 26 games, Barth connected on just 29-of-39 field goals. That’s an accuracy rate of 74.4%. It’s actually difficult to understand why the Bears kept him around for another season. For a team that likes to play games close to the vest, an accurate kicker is paramount. So far this season Barth has missed a field goal in games that were decided by single digits.
It was past time for a change. Nobody knows whether Santos will be good or not. All they know is he can’t possibly be much worse. He’ll have six games left to audition for the job long-term. Barth? His NFL career may be over.
