Parkey’s FG miss for Bears changed to block
Cody Parkey reflects on how missing the go-ahead kick against the Eagles will both sting and stick with him for a long time. (1:01)
Kicker Cody Parkey has been getting roasted for missing the potentially game-winning field goal in the Chicago Bears‘ playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Turns out he wasn’t totally to blame.
The NFL officially changed the 43-yard miss to a block by Eagles defensive tackle Treyvon Hester on Monday. The lineman barely got a finger on the ball, but it changed the trajectory enough that the kick hit the upright, dropped down to the crossbar and then out.
“Me and Haloti [Ngata] … we got penetration, got the hand up like coach always says,” Hester said, according to the Philadelphia Daily News. “Tipped off my fingertips. Felt good … [but] actually, I thought I didn’t get enough of it, I thought it was going to go in. When I saw it going in, I turned back around [away from the goal posts]. Then I heard everybody screaming, I was like, oh, [expletive] … he missed it.”
In the immediate aftermath of the game, it doesn’t appear that many people picked up on the fact that Hester got a hand on the ball. Parkey, who had been under fire in Chicago well before the game for missing a league-high 10 kicks during the regular season, didn’t shy away from the media after the contest.
“You can’t make this up,” Parkey said. “I feel terrible. I let the team down. That’s on me. I have to own it. I have to be a man. Unfortunately, that’s the way it went today.”
Parkey jogged off the field Sunday to boos from fans at Soldier Field, but he’s received encouragement on social media from across the sports world.
The manner in which he missed the last-second kick hit too close to home for Parkey, who endured criticism earlier in the year when he bounced four separate kicks off the uprights in a Week 10 victory over the Lions.
The Bears were not so fortunate to escape with a win this time, falling to Philadelphia 16-15.
“I thought I hit a great ball and was trying to play the wind,” Parkey said. “There’s really no answer to it. I didn’t make it. I take that loss on me. The sun is going to shine tomorrow, but unfortunately this one is going to sting for a while.”
Parkey made his first three field goal attempts on Sunday.
The veteran kicker had a trying first season in Chicago after signing a four-year deal in free agency that included $9 million in guaranteed money.
Information from ESPN’s Jeff Dickerson was used in this report.