It didn’t end with a feeling as much as it did with sounds – boing, bonk, thud.
When the potential game-winning field goal attempt by Cody Parkey hit the left upright (boing), then spun down to the top of the crossbar (bonk) and bounced back toward the field of play, a really exciting season for the Bears came to a sudden and sad end.
It was a 12-4 season in which the defense rose above the rest of the league in almost every category, a running game was rediscovered, and a young quarterback showed the promise of a maturing star.
But in an instant, it was over.
Why?
Well the easy answer is that the field goal kicker had been sub-par all season. Only one kicker missed more kicks than Parkey. And no kicker had hit the post as many times as he had – 6, with Sunday’s heartbreaking bounce.
So when “boing, bonk, thud” happened, Bears fans were stunned but not surprised. They had seen it before.
The game was over, but the hatred was just beginning.
Foulness filled Twitter and other social media sites. Bears fans threatened their kicker with physical harm, and death. They took up their lighted torches and pitchforks and took to the streets of social media searching for the target of their angst – Cody Parkey.
On social media, there is no place for a guy in Parkey’s position to hide.
But then something crazy happened very late Sunday night. A replay of the fateful kick showed that an Eagle defensive lineman had jumped up and got a couple of fingers on the ball. It wasn’t enough to keep it from getting to the goal posts, but it was enough to steer it off course and directly into the left upright.
The league’s stat crew officially changed the ruling from a missed field goal to a blocked field goal.
You say “what’s the difference…the Bears still lost?” True, but it means that Parkey didn’t miss the kick and lose the game for the Bears – instead Philadelphia made a play to win it.
The worst part of Twitter then followed … silence. No apologies. No one said “sorry Cody.” No one took back the hateful, threatening things they had spewed.
They don’t have to, because it’s social media. There is no accountability. There are no rules.
As is usually the case, when a team plays a game, there are a lot of people to praise for them winning and just as many people to blame for them losing. For example:
THE OFFENSE: The Bears had to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns. Trade in one touchdown for a field goal and the last-second kick doesn’t matter.
THE DEFENSE: The vaunted Bears defense, which had been so good all season, allowed what turned out to be the game-winning drive in its final five minutes. The pass rush couldn’t break through. The secondary couldn’t stop a guy who used to wear the navy blue uniform of the Bears – receiver Alshon Jeffrey. And on fourth down from their own 2-yard line they couldn’t make a play to keep the Eagles from the lead.
THE COACH: Always an easy target in close losses. Matt Nagy let about 15 seconds go off the clock after a long pass play that put the Bears at the edge of field goal range. Without a timeout, those 15 seconds would have allowed Chicago to throw a pass play in the middle of the field, spike it to stop the clock and give Parkey an even closer chance. That time was lost, and the distance of the kick was 43 yards. Had it been 42, it would have been good and Parkey would wear the hero’s crown.
THE FRONT OFFICE: Player personnel chief Ryan Pace let one of the most accurate kickers in the history of the league in Robbie Gould get away because he was a luxury they just could not afford. Gould still lives in suburban Chicago (he kicked for the San Francisco 49ers this season) and took his young sons to the game. You don’t think he wasn’t standing there at Soldier Field saying in his own head “I wish I was out there because I would make it”? And Pace could have and should have brought in other kickers and released Parkey mid-season.
Alas, none of those things happened … but boing, bonk, thud did.
It goes down as another home playoff loss in Chicago. Another failure when things seemed lined up for the Bears to win. Another round of “what ifs” and “what might have beens.” And don’t get wrapped up in the “well they should be good for a while” trap. Their defensive coordinator is likely to get a head coaching job if he wants it, some players will move on in search of paychecks or personal glory, and it will probably not be the same as what they had this season.
It’s why those sounds hurt so badly – that boing, bonk, and thud.
Thud is the sound of the hearts of Bears fans falling to the floor.
