"I feel terrible," says Bears K Parkey after 16-15 loss to Eagles

A distraught Cody Parkey was at a loss to explain his miss of a potential game-winning field goal at the end of Sunday's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, which knocked the Chicago Bears from the playoffs. "I feel terrible," Parkey told reporters after the 16-15 loss. "There's really no answer to it. I thought I hit a good ball." Parkey's 43-yard attempt hit the left upright, caromed down, went off the crossbar and then back into the end zone, preventing Chicago from reaching the divisional playoffs.

Slow-motion replays appeared to show Eagles defensive tackle Treyvon Hester getting a finger on the ball with his left hand, and Eagles teammates confirmed afterward that Hester tipped it. It was Parkey's sixth kick this season that hit an upright and missed. Fans booed the kicker heavily as he left the field. "It's one of the worst feelings in the world to let your team down," Parkey said. "I feel terrible. Continue to put things into perspective, continue to just put my best foot forward and just sleep at night knowing that I did everything in my power this week to make that kick, and for whatever reason it hit the crossbar and the upright."

Moments before the miss, Eagles head coach Doug Pederson had used a timeout to ice Parkey just before the Bears snapped the ball, and Parkey made the meaningless attempt as whistles blew. He had also hit each of his first three field-goal attempts of the game, though none was from further than 36 yards. Parkey, who turns 26 in February, spent the first two years of his career with the Eagles, reaching the Pro Bowl in 2014 as a rookie. Former teammate and Eagles left tackle Jason Peters told NFL Network after the game he knew Parkey's second attempt -- after Pederson called a timeout -- would miss. "I told him thank you after the game," Peters said. Parkey joined the Bears on a four-year, $15 million deal in free agency in March, but he made just 23 of 30 field-goal attempts (76.7 percent) and missed three extra points in the regular season. 

(With inputs from agencies.)