It’s been far too long since the last time we had a proper Kick 6 but, wow, did the Atlanta Falcons come close on Sunday against the Chicago Bears.
With the second quarter coming to a close at a snowy Soldier Field, the Bears found themselves at the Atlanta 37-yard line and decided to give kicker Cairo Santos a chance at a long field goal under the circumstances.
Atlanta wisely decided to put returner Dee Alford back in the end zone just in case — which it probably thought to do after missing two field goals of their own already. The kick went up, the clock hit zero and the ball fell right into Alford’s hands who started to slice all the way up field.
FALCONS ALMOST PULLED OFF A KICK-6
: #ATLvsCHI on CBS
: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/sFjqko01pD pic.twitter.com/ea9kQ8NePV— NFL (@NFL) December 31, 2023
This was so excruciatingly close to one of the coolest plays of the season. Alford made it all the way back to the 15-yard line before Bears tight end Robert Tonyan made a touchdown-saving tackle.
But go back to the 13-second mark of that clip and listen to the collective groan from Soldier Field as Alford cuts back and finds a bunch of blockers ahead of him. They knew exactly what was coming.
Props to Tonyan for chasing down Alford and stopping a score, but he also robbed us of one the most electric plays in football. Instead it’s just a 96-yard return for naught.
Fans wanted Alford to finish this off so bad.
