Chicago Bears: Outstanding season ends in heartbreak

The Chicago Bears dropped their Wild Card matchup to the Philadelphia Eagles in heartbreaking fashion. Now they’re left wondering “what if” and face the offseason trying to regroup.

Well, the season didn’t the way the Chicago Bears and their fans imagined. After hopes of making a long playoff run, their season ends on a double doink missed field goal. They lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 16-15 and they’re left to think about what ifs.

The Bears lost the game the way many fans feared — a missed field goal attempt by Cody Parkey. Of course, he’ll get the customary hate thrown his way. What we need to know, however, is that his play kept the Bears in the game. He made three other field goals. Additionally, Parkey’s kick was tipped.

Parkey will get all the ire but this was a team effort. In a game this close you can look at a number of things that hurt. Take for example Adrian Amos’ penalty. The Eagles had a third down and quarterback Nick Foles’ pass went incomplete. Amos came in and hit the receiver helmet-to-helmet. That allowed the drive to continue and culminated in an Eagles touchdown.

Now we’ll get the customary “Cut Parkey now” argument from frustrated fans.

If the Bears do indeed cut him, it costs them $9 million. No one else is going to trade for him so he’ll be a Chicago Bears kicker for at least another season. There is a buyout after next season so if his struggles continue they can drop him. Besides that, head coach Matt Nagy is a player’s coach so he’ll help him get over this and prepare to have a successful 2019 season.

This is what he said after the game (via ABC7 Chicago):

"I’m going to do everything I can to take the human side of it. I think the easiest way you look at it is that you put yourself in his situation. You think he tried to miss it? No, I know that. But you’ve got to learn from it. You’ve got to figure out the why part, and he’ll do that, and we need to do that, too."

I feel the Bears made a mistake by having Parkey go to Soldier Field and practicing his kicks over and over again. They should have just let him go home, clear his mind and relax. He was too much in his head. He knows how to kick the ball. He’s had success before. What he needed was to have his mind clear.

This isn’t a matter of Parkey just having bad accuracy. It was the sixth time he hit the upright. That is an anomaly. An offseason of practice and looking at the game films and he’ll come back stronger next season.

One good that came from this game was Mitchell Trubisky. Many felt he would be the reason the Bears would lose, but he played well. He completed 26 of 43 passes for 303 yards and a touchdown. Also, he didn’t throw an interception.

After the Eagles scored late in the game to take the lead, Trubisky led the offense perfectly to set up the game-winning attempt. I think all the questions about him should be answered. Given another offseason in Nagy’s system Trubisky should take another big step in his development next season.

While fans clamor for another kicker, the Bears have other, bigger. needs on the roster. They need to decide if they offer contracts to tackle Bobbie Massie, cornerback Bryce Callahan, and safety Adrian Amos. They cannot go around throwing away $9 million just because the fans are upset.

Remember, it was a great season. Yes, it ended horribly bad, but the Chicago Bears is a team on the upside and one that should dominate the NFC North for years to come.