NEWSLETTER
This week, in THINGS THAT DON’T MAKE ME FEEL BETTER …
I was a bit too emotionally raw to do much of anything with this when it first crossed the wires last night (I still am, honestly), but Cody Parkey’s season-ending field goal attempt was apparently tipped at the line of scrimmage by Treyvon Hester.
Might as well take a look at the evidence:
Here’s a frame-by-frame look that clearly shows the Parkey kick was tipped by Treyvon Hester (Hester confirmed to @Bo_Wulf he tipped it). pic.twitter.com/6dOXui7Yyp
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) January 7, 2019
All-22 footage clearly shows Treyvon Hester got a piece of Cody Parkey’s final FG attempt vs. Eagles. pic.twitter.com/kAZdjdXug4
— Nick Shook (@TheNickShook) January 7, 2019
So technically, the sounds of a season ending were a double-doink, a thud, and whatever sound is made when fingertips make contact with a football. (Michael: Don’t forget the sound of a grown man (me) crying).
In hindsight, it would’ve been nice to have this view (and the attendant perspective) in the immediate aftermath of the kick, but let’s be honest: it wouldn’t have changed anything. Parkey missed the kick that would have sent the Bears to the next round of the playoffs and that’s that. It happened. Doesn’t really matter why, especially when the misses became so high-profile and frequent as the season went on.
Now, obviously, the loss wasn’t entirely Parkey’s fault (how about scoring more than 15 points at home, to start?). So if you want to play the what-if game, I’ll help you out. But be warned, I don’t think it’ll make you feel better:
Yeah, I think I actually feel worse now.
At the end of the day, whether Parkey was going to miss that kick no matter what or Hester’s hand really changed the trajectory of the ball, the Bears lost and a surprisingly magical season is now over. All I can tell you is it’s okay to feel ticked off. That was about as frustrating as endings get.
Michael Cerami contributed to this post.
