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Gould giving Bears leg to stand on

The Bears continue to rely on the strong right leg of kicker Robbie Gould.

The eight-year veteran has made all eight field goals he has attempted this season, including a 54-yarder, and is tied for fourth in the NFL with 16 touchbacks on kickoffs.

Gould has connected on nine straight field goal tries from 50 yards and beyond since 2010. He is 12 of 14 from that distance the past four seasons after going 0 of 2 in his first four campaigns.

“Technically, he’s really good, but we didn’t give him a lot of opportunities [early in his career],” said special teams coordinator Dave Toub. “I think he always had the ability to do it. We kind of held him back a little bit. We were kind of playing field position a little bit more.”

After recording 43 touchbacks last season, Gould is on pace for 64 this year.

“He’s really in a groove right now,” Toub said. “He’s hitting it well. The trajectory of his ball right now, it’s going out of the back of the end zone at a 3.7. As the weather gets colder, he’s going to have to try to get a little bit more hang time because he won’t be able to drive the ball as far. But right now he’s in a groove and we want to keep it going.”