Post by mpbears68 on Mar 14, 2019 15:01:53 GMT -6
CP doinked 4 kicks—FOUR!!!!!—and at least 3 of them were short ones during one home game we were still fortunate enough to win. This was after missing what would have been a game winner in Miami (admittedly a long attempt). Then it leaked out in the press that he wasn’t practicing much at SF because “the commute was too long”. Can anyone say: ‘MAJOR RED FLAG’
There was clearly a problem and competition should have been brought in immediately. At least for the purpose of lighting a fire under Parkey’s ass, if not replacing him outright. It wasn’t. The media asked the Bears about it at the time and they refused. Then Parkey went on to miss another probable game winner in New York as well. It’s not like we went into the playoffs with any sense of confidence in our kicker. In fact, it was the complete opposite. Even the national football media was listing “FG kicking” as a potential Achilles heel for the Bears in the playoff tournament.
Very few teams put up with a struggling kicker for long without at least bringing in competition. Sure, maybe for a trusted, proven vet who's in a slump you exercise some patience. The Bears did that for quite a while with Gould before finally cutting ties. He later acknowledged that getting released was the kick in pants he needed to get his game back in high gear.
But for someone new to the team who's repeatedly missing makeable kicks and using "long commute time" as an excuse, I think you gotta look at that with a greater sense of urgency. Especially as you are gearing up for a playoff run. Yes, I understand its an awkward and uncomfortable situation but I'd bet you, if we could crawl inside Ryan Pace's head, he regrets letting the chips fall like he did.
Its very very possible that the Bears would have made the SB last year with some clutch kicking.