All season long, the Chicago Bears have had a chance to win every game that they’ve played. Of course, the Bears did win 12 of those contests. As for their losses, Chicago was defeated only four times in the regular season, losing by an average of just 3.5 points. The Bears’ gut-wrenching 16-15 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles was no different.
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Obviously, the big story in this game is the missed 43-yard potential game-winning field goal by Cody Parkey. Granted, it appeared that Parkey’s attempt was tipped at the line of scrimmage, but the erratic kicker is still shouldering the blame for losing the game for the Bears.
Blame can also be thrown in the direction of the officials. Late in the second quarter, a pass to rookie Anthony Miller was called incomplete. It appeared that Miller made the catch and fumbled. After the apparent fumble, the refs called the play dead, not giving neither team a chance to recover the ball.
However, after looking at the entire picture, there are a few other reasons why Chicago came up short in their first playoff appearance since 2010. Let’s take a closer look at three things that prevented the Bears from advancing in the postseason, and stop pointing the finger at Parkey (at least for now).