It has been an arduous aftermath for the Bears in the wake of the “double doink” that ended Chicago’s 2018 season in the form of a bitter playoff loss to the Eagles.
Just as a search for a new kicker lingers on, so too does the replaying of those fateful final moments when now ex-Bears kicker Cody Parkey‘s game-winning attempt was partially blocked and found the upright not once but twice before falling fatefully to the ground.
In light of running back Tarik Cohen revealing that coach Matt Nagy has the team watching replays of that bitter ending rather than leaving it in the rear view, former Titans and Rams coach — and Bears player — Jeff Fisher weighed in on Nagy’s choice to continue highlighting the heartbreak.
“You know, none of us are in his locker room. We don’t know the chemistry of his team. It’s his team and it’s his choice,” Fisher said Friday, chiming in as a guest analyst on NFL Total Access. “Now, I don’t think I’d want to be a place kicker on his team right now. That’s a hard job right there, because you’re gonna watch [the missed kick] every day.”
Just as moving on from last season’s loss has seemingly been held back, moving on from last season’s kicker has, as well. Currently Eddy Pineiro and Elliott Fry remain as prospective kickers for 2019 after Chris Blewitt was cut following a disastrous kicking competition that furthered a Chicago offseason kicking storyline that’s been equal parts comedy and sadness.
Eventually the Bears must move on and kick off the 2019 season. Conventional wisdom leans to them needing to not only decide on a kicker, but move past the playoff loss to do that.
“This is Coach Nagy’s, it’s his prerogative to do what he wants,” Fisher said. “At some point he’s gonna let it go. Some point they need to go ahead and win a football game, you know that’s months away from now.”
A punt returner/defensive back during a four-year NFL playing career — all with the Bears — Fisher eventually went on to a 25-year career as a head coach with the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Oilers and St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams. His coaching tenure included a Titans Super Bowl loss to the Rams in one of the most dramatic Super Bowls of all-time. Hence, he knows about coming back from a bitter postseason defeat.
Fisher said Friday it was just shy of a decade before he actually watched it again.
“No. Actually, it took me about eight years to watch it,” Fisher said. “We just put it behind us and I hadn’t seen it. It was one of those deals where it didn’t happen, it didn’t happen, you go on and we actually had a better team the next year. The challenge was getting them focused and keeping them focused late in the season because they wanted to get right back, so no I didn’t show it to them.”
Winter had come and gone, just like the 2018 Bears season. Summer is now officially shining and maybe, just maybe it’s time to move on.
“Now it’s the third time I’ve seen it,” Fisher smiled after seeing the end of the Titans‘ Super Bowl again on Friday.
For the Bears, they’ve likely seen their last loss more than three times this week.