Second-year pro blocked field goal as time expired in win over Bears
Packers defensive lineman Karl Brooks has been named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 11.
Brooks blocked Chicago kicker Cairo Santos’ attempt at a game-winning 46-yard field goal as time expired to secure Green Bay’s 20-19 win over the Bears on Sunday.
It’s the first time the Packers have won the NFC weekly award for special teams since Keisean Nixon was honored for his 105-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in a 41-17 win over the Minnesota Vikings during Week 17 of the 2022 season.
Brooks’ block marked the fourth time since 1995 a game ended with a blocked FG attempt under 50 yards, and the second in the NFL this season (Kansas City blocked a field goal in Week 10 vs. Denver).
It was the second field goal Brooks has blocked in his two NFL seasons. The 6-foot-3, 296-pound defensive lineman previously blocked a 44-yard Greg Joseph field-goal attempt during Week 8 of last season, joining T.J. Slaton (Oct. 24, 2021) as the only Packers rookies to block a field goal from 1994-2023.
Green Bay has blocked six field goals since Rich Bisaccia was hired as special teams coordinator in 2022, second only to Pittsburgh’s 10 over that stretch.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, Sunday was the first time since the 1970 merger that the Packers blocked a field goal with under a minute remaining in the fourth quarter or later.
It also was just the second time in team history the Packers blocked a field goal on the final play of a game settled by three points or fewer – a 7-6 win over the Cleveland Rams on Nov. 26, 1939.