Chiefs’ Cairo Santos keeps getting his kicks

On a day of records and streak-busting, one standout of the Chiefs’ 29-13 victory over the Broncos on Sunday performed without much fanfare — the guy responsible for the most points.

Chiefs fans would prefer to see less of kicker Cairo Santos, who jogs onto the field when the offense doesn’t convert on third down. But at least when they see him, there’s a trust that the point total is about to increase.

Santos’ five field goals Sunday kept the production moving when the offense stalled.

In the process, Santos became the second Chiefs player to record at least five field goals in game twice in a season, joining Hall of Famer Jan Stenerud in 1969. Santos made all seven attempts at Cincinnati in October.

That day, Santos supplied all the team’s points in a 36-21 loss. Sunday, his job was to increase the lead.

“You want to put points on the board whether you’re beating them by 20 or down 20,” Santos said.

The approach doesn’t change. But the feeling does.

“Probably the only difference is you’re having more fun when you’re winning,” he said.

Denver offers a variety of unique factors: high altitude, sometimes frigid conditions and snow. But Sunday was ideal.

“We got lucky,” Santos said. “It was beautiful. The winds, you could barely feel anything. It was a perfect day.”

It was in many ways for the Chiefs, who broke a seven-game losing streak to the Broncos. The defense came up with five interceptions and five sacks. The Chiefs took advantage of Marcus Peters’ interception on the game’s third play with a touchdown drive.

But the Chiefs didn’t find the end zone again until the fourth quarter. Between touchdowns by running back Charcandrick West, Santos supplied all the scoring, and not with a series of gimmie kicks.

His field goals went for 48, 49, 34, 33 and 50 yards. Additionally, none of his seven kickoffs was returned by the Broncos.

“He’s gotten stronger, just physically stronger,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “And then he’s very relaxed through the kick. You have to stay on top of that. We’re just a little over halfway through the season, so you have keep that rhythm and maintain it.”

A misconnection from Alex Smith to Albert Wilson in the end zone before halftime stood as the biggest missed touchdown opportunity.

But with a defense dominating Peyton Manning, who on the game’s second series passed Brett Favre to become the NFL’s leader in career passing yards, and Santos doing his thing, the effect of not scoring touchdowns was minimized.

“There’s a fine line there for sure,” Smith said.

The line is between a quick scoring strike off a turnover and not wanting to give the ball back immediately with a mistake of your own. The Chiefs’ five turnovers in their home-opener loss to the Broncos resonated on Sunday.

“We had them right there and let the thing go,” Reid said about the 31-24 loss to Denver in September. “We did a better job of that. We caused turnovers and didn’t have any turnovers.”

And the Chiefs had Santos, who is proving to be an important weapon. The Chiefs are tied for 16th in the NFL with 23 touchdowns. But Santos’ 21 field goals (in 26 attempts) are tied for third among NFL kickers.

Santos, in his second NFL season, has said he’d rather kick extra points than field goals, but either way the job doesn’t change.

“You have to knock those through,” Santos said.

This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 7:11 PM with the headline "Chiefs’ Cairo Santos keeps getting his kicks."