A tremendous 2018 Bears season ended with a dud in 2019 — or, more accurately, a doink.
Cody Parkey missed a game-winning 43-yard attempt with five seconds left, with his kick clanging off the left upright and then the crossbar to devastate the Bears and the crowd at Soldier Field.
This was a game the Bears’ should’ve won. Had to win. They squandered the franchise’s best shot at winning the Super Bowl in years, with the best defense in the NFL and a hotshot head coach. But Parkey’s woes came back to bite the team at the worst possible time.
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Trubisky, given 56 seconds and one timeout, drove the Bears into field goal range with 33 yards of passing to Allen Robinson after Tarik Cohen’s 35-yard kickoff return. The Bears did everything they could to beat the defending Super Bowl champs except make the kick they signed Parkey to make back in March.
But the larger point of Sunday night is this: It should be incredibly disappointing that the Bears’ season ended this way. This should not be framed as the Bears’ taking a step in the right direction by merely making the playoffs while returning so many key players next season. Windows to win in the NFL open and shut extremely fast. The Bears’ window was open in 2018, and there’s no guarantee it’s be open in 2019.
Think about how much could change between now and the Bears’ season opener next fall. On defense: Vic Fangio could wind up accepting an offer to be a head coach and reportedly has interviews lined up with the Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins this week. Injuries could happen at a rate far higher than they did in 2018, when this defense only lost one starter to injured reserve (slot corner Bryce Callahan) and got two key offensive players back off IR (Kyle Long and Adam Shaheen). Guys like Callahan and Adrian Amos are free agents. The makeup of this defense, which was far and away the NFL’s best in 2018, will never be the same as it was this season.
Look no further than the 2017-2018 Jacksonville Jaguars as a cautionary tale of staking year-to-year success on defense. It’s hard to do.
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It’s also true that the 2017 Los Angeles Rams lost their first playoff game, then returned in 2018 even stronger to earn a first-round bye. The Bears will have to hope their trajectory looks more like the one followed by Sean McVay, with quarterback and coach taking significant steps forward in Year 2 of their relationship.
But that’s all in the future. For now, this loss surely will sting at Halas Hall for weeks and months to come.
And Parkey’s future, of course, will very much be in doubt.
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