Chicago Bears place-kicker Cody Parkey missed 10 kicks during the regular season. Five of them hit an upright.
With 10 seconds to play, the former Auburn standout faced a 43-yard field-goal attempt that would lift the Bears past the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL playoffs on Sunday. And it happened again. Parkey’s kick hit the left upright, then struck the crossbar before bouncing back onto the field.
The missed kick allowed the Eagles to escape with a 16-15 victory in Chicago.
In Sunday’s other NFL playoff game, the Los Angeles Chargers defeated the Baltimore Ravens 23-17.
Parkey connected on field goals of 36 and 29 yards in the first half — the latter as time ran out in the second quarter — and hit a 34-yarder with 14:13 left in the game that cut the Eagles’ lead to 10-9.
After Chicago took the lead on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Mitch Trubisky to Allen Robinson with 9:04 to play (but didn’t get the 2-point conversion), quarterback Nick Foles rallied the defending Super Bowl champion. He hit Golden Tate with a 2-yard TD throw on fourth down with 56 seconds to play. A failed 2-point conversion left Philadelphia with a one-point lead.
A 35-yard kickoff return and completions for 25 and 8 yards put Chicago in position for Parkey’s field-goal attempt — and he made the kick, although it didn’t count because it came after the Eagles had called timeout. His second kick didn’t go as well.
Parkey was one of six players from Alabama high schools and colleges on the active rosters of the Eagles and the Bears:
· Jordan Howard (Gardendale, UAB) started at running back for the Bears and rushed for 35 yards on 10 carries.
· Bears safety Eddie Jackson (Alabama) did not play, although he was dressed for the game. The 2018 All-Pro selection missed the final two games of the regular season because of an ankle injury and returned to practice last week as a limited participant. But Chicago never called on him on Sunday.
· Eagles wide receiver Jordan Matthews (Madison Academy) played but did not record any stats.
· Eagles guard Chance Warmack (Alabama) was designated as inactive.
· Bears defensive tackle Nick Williams (Minor, Samford) was designated as inactive.
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Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers threw a touchdown pass in every game during the 2018 regular season except one — a 22-10 loss to the Ravens on Dec. 22. On Sunday, Rivers again failed to throw for a TD against Baltimore.
But this time, Los Angeles posted a six-point win as the former Athens High School standout managed the offense into position for five field goals and a fourth-down touchdown while the Chargers defense smothered Baltimore until late in the game.
Rivers completed 22-of-32 passes for 160 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. He also completed a 2-point conversion pass that gave the Chargers a 20-3 lead 16 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Rivers, who ran for 7 yards on 18 carries during the regular season, had 15 yards on three rushing attempts against the Ravens. He equaled his longest run during the regular season with a 7-yarder, then ran 9 yards for a first down — his longest rush since 2016.
Because passing yards in the NFL include sacks, Baltimore entered the fourth quarter with minus-1 passing yard for the game, but Ravens QB Lamar Jackson came through with touchdown passes to wide receiver Michael Crabtree with 6:33 and 1:59 to play to make it a game.
Baltimore got the ball back with 45 seconds to play, but the Ravens lost a fumble — their third turnover — to end their season.
Rivers was one of the 14 players from Alabama high schools and colleges on the active rosters of the Chargers and Ravens:
· Ravens cornerback Anthony Averett (Alabama) made one special-teams tackle.
· Ravens center Bradley Bozeman (Handley, Alabama) played but didn’t record any stats.
· Marlon Humphrey (Hoover, Alabama) started at right cornerback for the Ravens. He made one tackle and broke up one pass. Humphrey ran from end zone to end zone after recovering a loose football that was called a touchdown for the Chargers on the field and changed after video review to the ball-carrier being down by contact short of the goal line.
· Ravens cornerback Cyrus Jones (Alabama) played but didn’t record any stats. Jones was deep for five Los Angeles punts. Two went out of bounds, two were downed and one went for a touchback.
· Chargers defensive tackle Anthony Lanier (Alabama A&M) was designated as inactive.
· C.J. Mosley (Theodore, Alabama) started at middle linebacker for the Ravens. Mosley made a team-leading 11 tackles. He also recovered a fumble and returned the football 12 yards to the Los Angeles 21-yard line, which Baltimore’s offense turned into a field goal for its first points of the game.
· Chargers defensive tackle Darius Philon (Vigor) made a tackle behind the line of scrimmage.
· Ravens defensive tackle Michael Pierce (Daphne, Samford) recorded two tackles.
· Chargers running back Troymaine Pope (Anniston, Jacksonville State) was designated as inactive.
· Chargers offensive tackle Trent Scott (Lee-Huntsville) played but did not register any stats.
· Za’Darius Smith (Greenville) started at strongside linebacker for the Ravens. He made one tackle and blocked a field-goal attempt in the third quarter.
· Ravens outside linebacker Tim Williams (Alabama) was designated as inactive.
Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts win in NFL playoff openers
The Chargers advance to play the New England Patriots at 12:05 p.m. CST Sunday.
Los Angeles tied for the best record in the AFC at 12-4 during the regular season, but it lost a tie-breaker to the Kansas City Chiefs for the AFC West winner’s spot in the postseason. That put the Chargers on the road for the playoffs while the Chiefs received a bye and will face the Indianapolis Colts at 3:35 p.m. Saturday.
Indianapolis defeated the Houston Texans 21-7 on Saturday as both wild-card teams defeated division winners on the first weekend of the AFC playoffs.
In the NFC, the Eagles won as a wild-card team and will play the top-seeded New Orleans Saints at 3:40 p.m. Sunday. Saturday’s NFC winner, the Dallas Cowboys, who topped the Seattle Seahawks 24-22, visit the second-seeded Los Angeles Rams at 7:15 p.m. Saturday.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
Second-round pairings set for NFL playoffs
Source: “Los Angeles” – Google News