Parkey feels ‘terrible’ after missed kick for Bears

A DISTRAUGHT Cody Parkey (right) was at a loss to explain his miss of a potential gamewinning field goal at the end of Sunday’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, which knocked the Chicago Bears from the play-offs.

“I feel terrible,” Parkey said after the 16-15 loss. “There’s really no answer to it. I thought I hit a good ball.”

Parkey’s 43-yard attempt hit the left upright, dropped down, went off the crossbar and then back into the end zone, preventing Chicago from reaching the divisional play-offs.

Slow-motion replays appeared to show Eagles defensive tackle Treyvon Hester getting a finger on the ball with his left hand, and his Eagles teammates confirmed that Hester tipped it.

It was Parkey’s sixth kick this season that hit an upright and missed. Fans booed the kicker as he left the field.

“It’s one of the worst feelings in the world to let your team down,” Parkey said. “I feel terrible.”

Moments before the miss, Eagles head coach Doug Pederson had used a time-out just before the Bears snapped the ball, and Parkey made the meaningless attempt as whistles blew. He had also hit each of his first three field-goal attempts of the game, though none was further than 36 yards.

Parkey, who turns 26 in February, joined the Bears on a four-year, $15m deal in free agency in March, but he made just 23 of 30 field-goal attempts (76.7pc) and missed three extra points in the regular season.