Arkush: Bears position review: Special teams

Last in a series

Throughout the four seasons of the Ryan Pace-Matt Nagy era in Chicago, the most consistent unit on the team was the special teams under the guidance of coach Chris Tabor. The 2021 season was no exception.

The Bears were between above league average and very good in every phase except punt return coverage that suffered for the second year in a row, finishing 30th at 11 yards allowed per return.

They were 15th covering kick returns, allowing an average of 21.4 yards per kick.

With Tabor's aggressive approach to kickoff returns, the Bears led the league, bringing the ball back 51 times, and as a result were second in kick return yards with 1,180 while averaging 23.1 yards per return, 12th in the league.

Thanks to the in-season trade for Jakeem Grant, the team finished fourth in the NFL with 338 punt return yards, 19.9 per game.

Pat O'Donnell was having one of his better seasons punting until slumping in December and January, and kicker Cairo Santos came within spitting distance of one of the league's most important special teams records (consecutive made kicks).

Deon Bush, DeAndre Houston-Carson, Caleb Johnson, Christian Jones, Nsimba Webster and Damien Williams led the coverage units.

Positives: After missing a 46-yard field goal on the opening drive of the Bears' miraculous 30-26 comeback victory over the Falcons in Week 3 of the 2020 season, Santos went 407 days and 22 games without missing another one.

He hit 40 consecutive kicks coming within four of Adam Vinatieri's record of 44 straight field goals without a miss.

Santos finished the season 26 of 30 and 27 of 28 on extra points.

Continuing the Bears' dominance of the return game established by Tarik Cohen and Cordarrelle Patterson, Grant was named a Second Team All Pro, notched a league best 13.9 yards on 18 punt returns with just two fair catches and had the league's first punt return TD of the season in Green Bay, going 97 yards and breaking the Bears' record of 95 yards by Johnny Bailey in 1990.

Rookie sixth-round pick Khalil Herbert was very effective, returning 27 kickoffs for a 24.1 yard average.

Negatives: Covering punts was a problem all season. The issue first showed up in exhibition games and the Bears were never able to get it straightened out, languishing in the league's bottom five from Week 1 through Week 18.

Defining moments: 1. Training camp opened with Cohen still recovering from ACL surgery in October 2020. Unable to practice, he was placed on the PUP list. Cohen never participated in a single practice and missed the entire 2021 season.

2. On Oct. 5, the Bears traded their 2023 sixth-round pick for Grant to fill the void left by Cohen. Grant also contributed at wide receiver.

3. In Week 9, after hitting his 39th and 40th consecutive field goals earlier in the game against the Steelers, Santos was forced to try a 65-yard kick with 2 seconds to play and the game on the line at Heinz Field. Santos' kick came up short and his streak was halted.

4. In Week 12, with no time left on the clock, Santos hits a 28-yard field goal on Thanksgiving Day in Detroit to give the Bears a 16-14 win and snap their five game losing streak following gut-wrenching last-second losses to the Steelers and Ravens.

Grade: B

Contract status: Grant, O'Donnell, long snapper Patrick Scales, Bush, Houston-Carson, Jones and Williams are all free agents.

Santos is under contract through 2023, and Herbert has three years left on his rookie deal.

The plan: Other than securing a return specialist, punter and long snapper, the plan for special teams is mostly an offshoot of expendable starters and key backups on defense and offense.

The return plans hinge on the health of Cohen and efforts to re-sign Grant.

The mid-February signing of veteran long snapper Beau Brinkley indicates he will replace Scales.

GM Ryan Poles also signed punter Ryan Winslow, who was an undrafted rookie free agent with the Bears in 2018, but he has been primarily a practice squad guy and will almost certainly have to compete for the job, leaving open the possibility of re-signing O'Donnell or bringing in another veteran.