It will take a while for Chicago Bears fans to get the nasty taste of the disappointing 16-15 playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles out of their mouths. The Bears were literally inches away from defeating the defending Super Bowl champs in the NFC Wild Card round. Bears kicker Cody Parkey missed the potential game-winning field goal from 43-yards out by hitting the upright and the crossbar on Chicago’s final possession of the game.
I mentioned in a previous post that there were other reasons why the Bears came up short in this game, and that Parkey wasn’t the sole reason why Chicago didn’t advance to the NFC Divisional round.
Some may defend Parkey by saying that his kick was tipped at the line of scrimmage (which it was), and that’s why the ball veered off to the left hitting the upright. Personally, I don’t think those few fingers made much of an impact on the direction of the ball, and Parkey would’ve missed it regardless. However, let’s just say that the tipped ball was the reason for the inaccurate kick. Even if no one were to point a finger at Parkey for that moment, there is still a reason to place blame on the five-year veteran for the Bears not having an even better 2018 season.
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On the year (not including the playoffs), Parkey missed a total of 10 kicks (seven field goals and three extra points). The undrafted kicker is most known for doinking four kicks (two field goals and two extra points) off the upright in a single game in Week 10 versus the Detroit Lions. Fortunately, those misses didn’t hinder the outcome of the game for Chicago. However, there was an instance where one of Parkey’s misses kept the Bears from winning.
In Week 6, Chicago loss to the Miami Dolphins in overtime. In the extra period of play, Parkey had a chance to put the game away with a 53-yard field goal, but missed it wide right. Had that kick went through the uprights, the Bears would’ve had a record of 13-3 instead of 12-4.
What does that mean? Well, it means that Chicago would’ve been in a three-way tie for first place in the NFC along with the New Orleans Saints and the Los Angeles Rams. Since the Bears defeated the Rams in Week 14, and Chicago had a better conference record than the Saints, then the Bears would’ve been the No. 1 seed in the NFC with a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the postseason.
Since none of that happened, Chicago now has to lick their wounds from this gut-wrenching early exit from the playoffs, and regroup for next season. As for Parkey, the logical thing would be to cut ties with him. If money didn’t play a major factor in doing that, I’m sure this would be a no-brainer for general manager Ryan Pace and the rest of the Bears’ brass.
Prior to the 2018 season, Chicago signed Parkey to a four-year, $15 million contract with $9 million guaranteed. Releasing Parkey means that the Bears will be eating a lot of money. This big contract doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s safe. But if things continue to get worse, Chicago just may decide to just take the loss and go for a more reliable kicker.
I hear that some guy by the name of Robbie Gould will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. Just putting that out there.