Cody Parkey hit another upright and the Eagles are headed to New Orleans.
The Bears kicker had an unfortunate habit of hitting uprights with his kicks all season and he did it again with five seconds left in Sunday’s game. After a Nick Foles touchdown pass put the Eagles up 16-15 with 56 seconds to play, a big Tarik Cohen kickoff return and two completions to Allen Robinson set up a 43-yard try to win the game.
Parkey, who kept his job despite missing 10 kicks and hitting the uprights five times in the regular season, put a kick through after Eagles coach Doug Pederson called a presnap timeout, but put the second try off the left upright. It hit the crossbar and then bounced back onto the field as a painful silence fell over Soldier Field.
Foles threw a pair of interceptions in the first half, but hit Dallas Goedert for a touchdown to put the Eagles in the lead in the third quarter and then completed five passes to move the Eagles to the 2-yard-line on their final possession of the game. They failed to get in three times before Foles hit wide receiver Golden Tate to take the lead.
Tate didn’t do much for the Eagles after the midseason trade with the Lions that brought him to Philadelphia, but it’s hard to imagine anyone will be too focused on that after Sunday’s game. He had five catches for 46 yards overall, including a 28-yard gain that saw him hold onto the ball despite taking a big shot from a Bears defender.
He’ll get a chance to add some more positives to the ledger against the Saints next Sunday while Parkey and the Bears will have a much longer wait before another chance to get on the field.