Getty Chicago Bears kicker Cody Parkey
Less than 24 hours after Chicago Bears kicker Cody Parkey took complete blame for the team’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the NFL decided it wasn’t his fault. On Monday, the league changed the missed field goal attempt to a blocked kick, as NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero revealed.
The decision can’t be considered all that surprising after factoring in everything from the play. Before anything, here’s a look at Parkey’s kick, which hit both the upright and the crossbar before falling out.
Cody Parkey’s would-be game-winning FG hits the crossbar twice sending the Eagles to the Divisional Round. #PHIvsCHI #NFLPlayoffs
At first glance (and even beyond, originally) it simply looked as though Parkey had pushed the kick just a bit too far to the left. But after the game had wrapped and the Bears kicker had to endure a tough postgame press conference, new information came to light.
Cody Parkey’s Kick Was Blocked
The multiple slow-motion videos which were released after the game proved the fact that Eagles defensive lineman Treyvon Hester did get a finger on the kick at the line. Here’s one of the many videos which helped to break down the situation.
Watch this video in slow-mo…Treyvon Hester comes up with a huge block off the tip of the fingers forcing the change of trajectory in the kick…wow. #CodyParkey #FLyEaglesFly
Not surprisingly, Parkey was destroyed on social media by frustrated fans who were angry with the kick which ended the Bears’ season. But now, it’s led some backtracking, considering the fact that Hester’s handing hitting the ball likely saved Philadelphia’s season.
Cody Parkey’s Handling of Missed Kick After Game
The 26-year-old kicker deserves a lot of praise for how he handled himself after the game, especially when you consider there’s a good chance he likely knew the ball was partially blocked. As SportsCenter revealed in his postgame interview, Parkey took the blame for the loss and called it “one of the worst feelings in the world to let your team down.”
Cody Parkey answered postgame questions like a true professional 👏
Parkey, who entered the league as an undrafted free agent, had made 80 percent or more of his field goal attempts in each season prior to this year (excluding 2015 due to an injury). But the young kicker struggled throughout the regular season, making just 23-30 kicks and missing three extra point attempts.
During his first season in the NFL with the Eagles, Parkey set the NFL rookie scoring record and made 32-39 attempts (88.9 percent).
It’ll be interesting to see how the Bears opt to move forward with their current kicker and whether or not he remains with the team through the 2019 offseason and into next year.
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