Ahead of the much anticipated Chicago Bears vs. Philadelphia Eagles game, top sports analysts foresaw the Bears taking complete advantage of the wild home fan base, and using it to their advantage to secure a divisional round game next week. Unbeknownst to the city, the night of January 6th would hold a heartbreaking, fearful demise for the Bears postseason dreams.

As I stepped onto the city-bound train headed to Soldier Field, I felt a wave of excitement, prepared for the complete frenzy only hours away. Visuals of orange and blue began to crowd my vision as I sat down with my friends. The train was filled to the brim with spontaneous Chicagoans, which unexpectedly gave me a proud reassurance that the people of Chicago were ready to battle with everything in their power to put the reigning super bowl champs on a bus back home.

When we walked past security, we were instantly bombarded by numerous vendors, who attempted to get us to buy their absurdly expensive $9.50 chicken tender meals. After we gave into their marketing scheme, we took the cold food to our nosebleed seats along at the 50 yard line. While the seats weren’t ideal, there was no way to stop our enthusiasm to root for the Chicago Bears.

The first few quarters went by like a speeding jet, as what felt like 20 minutes turned into half the game. The energy of the eager fans around us held utter pandemonium: there were towels waved, inhumane screams, and the best of all, quiet Eagles fans as the home team took the 6-3 lead at the half.

The next hour and a half was somewhat stressful, as the Bears had made little to no progress to tame the fierce Eagles. The stadium stood in agony as the Eagles took the lead 16-15 with just minutes left in the 4th quarter. The frowns, however, quickly turned into smiles as the Bears clawed their way to the 26 yard line to set up a 43-yard field goal attempt.

While things looked good, everyone in the stadium knew of kicker Cody Parkey’s sub-par season, at the time filled with a league high 10 missed kicks. My friends and I had joked that if the fate of the Chicago Bears season was left in Parkey’s hands, fans should hold their breath. That future vision had inevitably come true, as bears fans watched with fear the kick go up, whack the goalpost, and miss.

After five long seconds of complete disbelief, I couldn’t help but feel pain and sorrow, not just for myself, but for Cody Parkey. As we zigzagged our way out of the stadium, I had realized there wasn’t a more ironic fashion of defeat than to have the Bears magical season end by the missed kick, a problem the bears had faced all year long. The fans, on the other hand, went ballistic after the game. They booed and cursed Parkey’s name in the streets of Chicago. As we walked out with our heads low, the chant “Parkey sucks!” could be heard a mile away.