KC Chiefs: Good, Bad, Ugly VS Denver Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Cairo Santos (5) kicks a field goal – Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

The Good (Honorable Mention): Cairo Santos

Cairo Santos has been clutch so far this season. I feel dumb because I said before the season began that Santos wouldn’t end the year as the Chiefs kicker and man was I way off or what?

The truth of the matter is that Cairo Santos has been this team’s MVP many times this season. He kicked seven field goals in a loss against the Bengals and then kicked five against the Broncos on Sunday. He’s been fantastic.

The best stat of the day on Sunday was that Santos had the same amount of field goals on the day as Manning did passing completions (five). The former Tulane kicker had a vengeance this season after looking iffy at times last year, and it’s shown that the nerves from his rookie year in 2014 are long gone.

Santos did miss one attempt on Sunday (a 48 yarder), but by that point it was 29-6 and the game looked to be well out of reach for Denver.

The former Tulane kicker had a vengeance this season after looking iffy at times last year, and it’s shown that the nerves from his rookie year in 2014 are long gone.

I’ve always been a tough critic on Chiefs kickers. Those of you who read my stuff when I first began writing for KC Kingdom and Ryan Succop was still the kicker in KC know that I was not a fan of his. After Santos struggled last season, I felt dumb for wanting Succop off the team, but now I’m glad that KC stuck with Santos.

We saw flashes of his kicking potential last year when he nailed a 48 yarder against the Chargers to win the game and again when he nailed his longest of the season (53 yards) agains the Rams.

With the way the Chiefs offense has looked this season (not being able to find the end zone… more on that later), it’s great to see Cairo Santos looking as dominant as he has. Keep it up Cairo!

Next: Now... The bad