Chicago Bears kicker’s unlucky, costly miss
Cody Parkey is just about the unluckiest kicker in the National Football League.
The Chicago Bears player hit the post four times against the Detroit Lions on November 11, with his unlucky streak rearing its head again in a wildcard playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles yesterday.
Parkey, a former Eagles player, had successfully made three field goals already in the match, but hit both the left upright and crossbar with his fourth kick of the night, with five seconds to go which condemned his team to a 16-15 loss, ending their season.
Parkey made the game-winning field goal moments before, but Eagles coach Doug Pederson ‘‘iced’’ him, meaning he called a timeout just before the play started, forcing Parkey to retake the kick.
That retake drifted to the left, hitting the post and the crossbar. Parkey also hit the post in the team’s last regular season game, prompting his special teams coach, Chris Tabor, to say he’d never seen anything like it before.
‘‘To be positive about it, with the misses, I’ve never seen a guy hit five uprights. What I tell him is, when you’re missing, you’re missing awfully small. It’s not sprayed everywhere. So we’ll just hone in on a couple things. I’m looking forward to him in this post-season run right here.’’
Eagles quarterback Nick Foles had hit Golden Tate with a two-yard touchdown pass on fourth down with 56 seconds remaining to put the Eagles ahead.
The defending Superbowl champion Eagles (10-7) squeezed into the playoffs by beating Washington and having the Bears (12-5) help them by knocking off Minnesota in the season finale. Philadelphia thanked their benefactor with a 12-play, 60-yard drive on which Foles, the Super Bowl MVP last February, hit six passes.
Philadelphia play at New Orleans next Monday (NZ time).
No team has repeated as Super Bowl champion since New England in 2004, and the Eagles are a sixth seed. The last sixth seed to win the NFL title was Green Bay in the 2010 season.
Earlier, the San Diego Chargers beat the Baltimore Ravens 23-17 to also progress to the next round of the playoffs.
The Charges will take on the New England Patriots in Monday’s other game, while Sunday’s matches will see the Kansas City Chiefs host the Indianapolis Colts, and the Dallas Cowboys travel to Los Angeles to face the Rams.