Bears kicker Cairo Santos drills game-winner in final minutes vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Last year, current Bears kicker Cairo Santos lost his job following the fifth week of the season.

Santos had a disastrous day in his final game with the Tennessee Titans, missing four field goal attempts.

On Thursday night, the fifth game of the year, Santos made a game-winning 38-yard field goal for the Bears at Soldier Field with 1:17 remaining in the game. The Bears defense held on for the win, 20-19, over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

One year makes all the difference. Santos knows that’s the life of an NFL kicker.

“It’s amazing,” Santos said after the game. “Sometimes it just shocks me how our careers and the stories happen.”

Santos has found a surprise home in Chicago. Eddy Pineiro was supposed to be the Bears kicker again this year, but Pineiro has remained on injured reserve with a groin injury throughout the first five weeks of the season.

Santos took advantage of the opportunity Thursday, making both his field goal attempts in clutch situations. Santos made a 47-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to give the Bears a lead, then made the game-winner from 38 yards after Tampa Bay had stolen the lead back.

“I really wanted the opportunity," Santos said. "I felt that I was due or something like that."

For a Bears team that has had its share of kicking woes over recent years, it was a welcomed performance.

“For him to make a 47-yard field goal, which was big, and then that 38-yard field goal, game-winner, I think that just speaks to him as a person," Bears coach Matt Nagy said.