Steelers Gain Fresh Advantage As Bears Have Major Problem To Deal With

The Pittsburgh Steelers know better than anyone that there are three phases to football: offense, defense, and special teams. Pittsburgh has had one of the best special teams units in the NFL, led by coordinator Danny Smith and kicker Chris Boswell. What most teams take for granted, the Steelers treat like a superpower, relying on a group that has single-handedly won numerous games over the past decade. As the team reaches the home stretch of the 2025 NFL regular season, every kick matters, and the Steelers once again hold a major advantage over their opponent this weekend, the Chicago Bears.

Sunday’s matchup is a showdown between two first-place teams that have taken very different paths to get where they are. The Steelers are coming off a commanding 34-12 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, while the Bears barely escaped the Minnesota Vikings with a 19-17 victory. Chicago needed a last-second 48-yard field goal from kicker Cairo Santos, one of four field goals he made on the afternoon, to give the Bears their seventh win in their last eight games. 

Santos has definitely had his moments, both good and bad. He’s been around the league long enough to be respected, and he’s proven he can deliver in pressure situations sometimes as he has hit some big-time kicks in Chicago. The issue for the Bears, however, is the inconsistency that comes attached to him. For every game-winner, there’s usually a miss somewhere else that leaves fans groaning. 

Despite hitting the game-winner as time expired in Week 11, Santos missed a field goal in the fourth quarter that would’ve pushed Chicago’s lead to 19-10. Instead, that miss opened the door for the Vikings to nearly steal the game. For a team fighting for playoff seeding, that’s not the kind of reliability you want to have to worry about.

The Steelers, on the other hand, don’t have that problem. Boswell isn’t just a great kicker, he is one of the most reliable weapons in the entire NFL, and nobody knows that better than Steeler Nation. If the Bears lean on Santos because they have to, the Steelers lean on Boswell because they want to. There’s a big difference in confidence level, and it shows anytime the field goal unit trots out.

Boswell has built a reputation in Pittsburgh that most teams would kill for. Over the last decade, Boswell has become nearly automatic, no matter the distance, weather, pressure, or field condition. 

The kicking battle adds another level of interest to the Week 12 matchup in Chicago. Both teams are physical, both have defenses that love to take the ball away, and both teams can grind out close games, but when it comes to special teams, Pittsburgh has a real edge. 

Close games in November and December often come down to one or two plays, and more often than not, one of those plays is a field goal attempt. The Steelers have a guy who delivers, and the Bears have a guy who might.

Steelers' Boswell Is Having Another Impressive Season In 2025

After his first career All-Pro season in 2024, Boswell has been making his case to be named the best kicker in the NFL in 2025. Boswell has gone 19-for-22 so far, including going seven-for-eight on kicks over 50 yards. 

His consistency has become a force for the Steelers, especially in tight matchups where every point carries extra weight. Head Coach Mike Tomlin has praised Boswell numerous times for his excellence, most notably calling him a "serial killer" after his 60-yard game-winner against the New York Jets in Week 1.

With the Steelers trying to make a late push for the postseason, having Boswell on their side gives them a major advantage in the kicking game, and that could be the difference between the Steelers winning the AFC North and missing the postseason altogether. 

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