Sunday’s game between the Bears and Eagles was settled when Bears kicker Cody Parkey’s field goal attempt with five seconds left on the clock hit the upright and crossbar before falling to the turf in what felt like a fitting final chapter to a rough season for the kicker.
Parkey’s kick didn’t go offline entirely on its own, however. Breaking down the video of the play shows that Eagles defensive lineman Treyvon Hester got his hand on the ball as it was going up.
“Me and Haloti [Ngata] ... we got penetration, got the hand up like coach always says,” Hester said, via Philly.com. “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, [bleep] ... he missed it.”
Hester played 94 special teams snaps for the Eagles during the regular season, but none of them was nearly as memorable as the one he played late in Sunday’s win.