The Chicago Bears reached the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons
in the 2018 campaign, but saw their hopes crushed by Cody Parkey’s
missed field goal in the Wildcard Round. Chicago endured problems with their
kicker during the campaign and those issues came to the fore at the worst
possible moment, which allowed the Philadelphia Eagles to advance at their expense.
Chicago have developed a habit of choking on the big occasion, much as their
kicker did last term. Parkey paid the price for his
miss as he was released by the team. Head coach Matt Nagy went as far as to
have six kickers try out for the team during the off-season and, at the
time of writing, they were still debating over two players for the spot on the
roster.
They will hope to have a more reliable kicker in place for the 2019 season.
The Bears do not want to become synonymous with failure to compete for the
Super Bowl. Something which they could share with Tottenham Hotspur, whose
ground they will visit in England over the course of the season when they face
off against the Oakland Raiders. Nagy’s men will not want to develop the ‘Spursy‘ gene that has plagued Tottenham in their quest for
glory in the Premier League and other competitions.
There always seems to be a classic breakdown moment for Spurs, notably in
the Champions League final last season when they gave away a penalty in the
early stages of the match. From that point onwards, they could not break back
into the contest before losing 2-0 to Liverpool. Even in their recent draw,
they almost had a Spursy moment against
Manchester City in their 2-2 draw, conceding a late goal from Gabriel Jesus,
only to be bailed out by VAR. Those characteristics have held the team back and
it’s why they’re not one of the top two leading contenders in the free football tips to win the
Premier League this term, especially given past disappoinments
when competing for the crown, such as losing out to Leicester City in the
2015/16 season.
Chicago cannot afford to follow the same path. Parkey’s
miss is one of a couple of incidents that have plagued the team. In their
previous attempt to end their playoff drought the Bears had a winner-take-all
showdown against the Green Bay Packers to win the NFC North in the 2013 season.
Chicago seemingly had the game wrapped up at Soldier Field with the Packers
facing fourth down and eight, one point behind with 46 seconds on the clock.
However, they allowed Aaron Rodgers to evade a blitz before he found Randall
Cobb deep for a game-winning touchdown to send Green Bay into the post-season.
With one blown game on their résumé, the pressure is on Chicago to bounce
back from their disappointing exit last season. It’s why they cannot be trusted
in the NFL predictions to make a surge towards the Super Bowl, despite the talent
on their roster. They always seem to have that self-destruct moment ingrained
in the DNA of the franchise, which has only been broken once by their elite
1985 team that won the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Nagy and the Bears have a point
to prove in 2019 that they can overcome their issues and make their way all the
way to the Super Bowl and end their trophy drought.
