My blood is still boiling, I haven't slept, there are at least two holes in my living room wall I need to fix today, my wife won't talk to me, and I think I broke my phone. So the thoughts will be short today. Don't you dare blame Mitch or the Bears defense. Mitch started rough but ended really well. He had 300 yards, no picks, and a touchdown against a really good defense. He did his job. The Bears defense was stout against a champion, battle tested offense. Yeah that touchdown hurts but the overall effort for 60 minutes was stellar. They did their job. All blame lies on Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy for trusting a kicker that missed 11 god damn kicks....doinking 6 of them...in the regular season. The same kicker that needed a police escort to go practice fucking kicks at Soldier Field because the traffic was too much for him. That's where the blame goes. All of it.
I'll blame the entire team. Too bad. That's what happens when you lose. But most of it is on Parkey and Pace. I was tossing and turning all night. The thought of having this taste in my mouth for the next 9 months kept me up.
I completely agree with this. Money should never be the reason for keeping a player on the team who has demonstrated OVER AND OVER AGAIN that he just doesn't have it.
Matt Nagys game plan was garbage. He went from one of his best coached games last week to his worst coached game. He ran the ball in every run situation and passed the ball in every pass situation. Pathetic job by him. And Cody Parkey should have never been kicking. Just because Pace stupidly overpaid a bum doesn’t mean we should have been stuck with him
What really bothers me is this team had a chance. We were mostly healthy throughout the season aside from a few injuries here and there. That doesn't happen a lot in this game. The defense is SB good. They are good enough to carry the team there. Trubisky still has to grow a lot but he proved he could do what it takes to put the team in position to win. More importantly he proved he could avoid critical mistakes that lose games. Next season the Bears will place a 1st place schedule. The Packers won't stay bad for long. The Bears will play the Cowboys, Eagles, Chiefs, Chargers, Rams, and Saints next season. That will be a tough schedule. The time to strike was now. And they put it on the foot of a guy that couldn't and shouldn't be trusted.
Aside from the good health, the camaraderie and chemistry of the team were unique for any Bears team I can remember. It will be a different team next year. The time to strike was indeed now.
Ultimately Cody Parker is responsible as he was put in position to win the game , he had missed 10 total combined fgs and extras to that point to it was impossible to have any confidence at all. Pace and Nagy stood by his side and they should take some heat also ... very surprising to hear he didn't " talk " to his guy prior to his press conference but whatever. Other factors that are relevant in the game to me. 1- Mack had zero sacks , got owned by Peters most of the game .. he indicated at one point in the game he was " close " only counts in horseshoes and hang grenades last time I checked. 2- Pathetic call on the 2 point conversion , Mack was in the backfield then goes in motion , then you give it to Gabriel .... fn gimmick bs call ... run Howard or rollout Mitch get the fn 2 points and go up by 3 Nagy !!!!!!!!!!!! 3- Phily was 6-13 on 3rd down conversions , not good enough D. 4- Miller great catch , just pick up the fn ball dude , yes I know the ref call in incomplete but your taught to go to any loose ball correct ?? 5- Cohen had a great return but he's become a non factor on offense for whatever reason recently. 6- Nagy either doesn't like Howard or just doesn't want to run the ball on a consistent basis with anyone , I guess that's a TBD. They didn't seize the moment , no one knows what the future brings , playoff runs are not guaranteed unless your NE I guess ... all the parts are in place for sure but it shouldn't have ended this early. It's hurts almost as bad as the Carolina game from years past , going to be a long wait for game one in Sept for sure.
It's pretty remarkable to see how fast Nagy got this team thinking with one brain. For all my complaints about Nagy's gameplans and play calls....this is something he deserves a ton of praise for. Even after the game yesterday...every player on the team vocally supported Parkey. That's just how this teams does it's business and I really respect and admire that.
I was actually somewhat shocked anyone who is a fan of the team and watches regularly would think anything other than this. for 59 minutes and 57 seconds, this team played the SB champs to a near draw, then the offense pickd up thedefense - who had a stallar game against the depest weaponed offense in th NFL - and drove the ball to th 25 yard line. Is a 43 yarder a chip shot? No. But it aint much more than that. Fuck You Parkey. Fuck You.
Every game thread down the stretch of the season at least one of us mentioned that Barfey could potentially lose a playoff game with his kicks. And just like that...it happened.
Mack hit Foles several times and was in his face whn he threw on of his picks. The Eagles offenseive gameplan was the same offense the Packers went to in the second half of game 1. Quick cuts, slants, dinks and dunks. Foles held the ball on average less than 2 seconds per attempt.
I agree with all of this. It’s honestly just poetry that we lost last night on a parkey double doink. In hindsight it feels like the entire season was a crescendo to that moment. It still feels almost too perfect to be believed. Going through the game. I would say our qb our played theirs and our defense outplayed theirs, and we still lost. Ugh. It just makes me sick. If pace never wins a Super Bowl, Cody parkey will be his legacy. I hope that thought keeps him up at night.
The Eagles also have a very good O-line. Combine that with a gameplan to get the ball out quick and you really shouldn't expect many, or any, sacks. I think Mack played well and did everything he could.
Mack is an all pro we paid $100 million. That's the type of game he has to step up and he wasn't a factor. Zero sacks on Foles in the second half, very little pressure the entire game. Credit to Foles and the Eagles game plan but there were a few third and longs throughout the second half where Foles did not get the ball out quickly and still had all day to throw. Defense allowed 6 of 13 third down conversions. In a playoff game, at home, that's totally unacceptable I don't care who you are facing.
Unfortunately who you are facing matters. Not saying he couldn't have gotten a sack. But I don't think he played bad.
How much of a difference would there have been if EJax was sent out to play? Didn't the game suggest that he should play? Why was he dressed if there was no intention to put him out?
This along with Burton's "injury" are the two questions the coaching staff needs to come clean on. If EJax was not 100% and not ready to play then he should not have been active. Otherwise it was a huge mistake to keep him on the bench.