Hub Arkush: Bears special teams were a bright spot
Last in a series
The Chicago Bears special teams have been among the best in the league in recent seasons and 2020 was no exception, but they were a bit less consistent and nowhere near as dominant in both sides of the punt return game as they have been in the past.
The main culprit in the slight decline was injuries as the team went through five different punt returners, and the increased use of Cordarrelle Patterson at the running back position might have had some small impact on his coverage ability. He was still excellent but not a first-team All Pro as a gunner as he was last season.
Positives: Patterson was once again a first-team All Pro kickoff returner, leading the league in that category again, and his 104-yard TD return against the Vikings (who originally drafted him n the first round) - the eighth of his career - tied him with Josh Cribbs and Leon Washington for the NFL's all-time kickoff-return touchdown record.
Cairo Santos was arguably the best place-kicker in the league over the final 14 weeks of the season, perfect on field goals over that stretch and breaking the Bears' record for most consecutive successful attempts, a streak of 27 that is still alive.
Patrick O'Donnell became one of the NFL's best directional punters and had an outstanding season with just five touchbacks, and he was among the NFL leaders on punts downed inside the 20 and inside the 10. His 43.75% of all punts downed inside the 20 was the second best of his career.
Negatives: Tarik Cohen, the NFL's best punt returner the last two seasons was lost to a torn ACL in Week 3 against the Falcons. With his knee went the punt return game.
Veteran free agent Ted Ginn was unable to even field punts consistently let alone return them and was waived several weeks after the Cohen injury.
Anthony Miller actually looked fairly good returning punts, but for whatever reason the Bears were reluctant to use him there, so they signed veteran street free agent Dwayne Harris four weeks after the Cohen injury. He lasted just three weeks before tearing a triceps muscle vs. the Vikings.
Next the Bears signed another street free agent, DeAndre Carter, who showed great toughness and was a gamer but provided little boost.
In addition to dropping from seventh in punt returns in 2019 to 22nd last season, the punt coverage unit fell from 16th in the league in 2019 to 28th.
Defining moments: With 3:34 to play in the third quarter of the season opener, following a 44-yard Matt Prater field goal to give the Lions a 23-6 lead, Prater kicked off and Patterson returned the kick 45 yards to the Bears' 41, setting the offense up in great field position and igniting the Bears' miracle comeback.
Santos was the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance in the Bears' 23-13 win over the Panthers in Week 6, and the NFC Special Teams Player of the Month of December.
In December, Santos was 9 for 9 on field goal attempts and 16 of 17 on extra points.
Contract status: This is a real issue as Patterson, Santos, O'Donnell and a number of the Bears best cover guys, including Barkevious Mingo, Deon Bush, DeAndre Houston-Carson and special teams captain Sherrick McManis, are all free agents. Only Cohen is certain to be back and he will be coming off that ACL repair.
Hub's grade: B+: While the punt return game did disappoint, that the kickoff return, placekicking and punting games were all among the best in the league made for a very successful season.
Hub's plan: The Bears' salary cap issues have been much discussed and with big needs at quarterback, offensive tackle, wide receiver and safety it will be difficult to devote a lot of money to special teams, but I would make re-signing Patterson, Santos and O'Donnell priorities and really think it's important to get Mingo back as well because of his athleticism and all the ways he benefits the team.
• Twitter: @Hub_Arkush