Thank God it's Friday: Bears Bounced-Literally-Out of NFL Playoffs

by Ricky Dimon - 1/11/2019

Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa

Last week-and really the whole season-did not go worse for anyone than it did for Bears kicker Cody Parkey. His last-second miss of a 43-yard field goal ended Chicago's 2018-19 campaign and sent Philadelphia through to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. Football seasons also came to a disappointing conclusion for the Houston Texans and Alabama Crimson Tide.

All odds provided by Bovada Sportsbook .

Cody Parkey . Did Parkey's field goals have a magnetic attraction to posts this season? It sure seems that way. He hit posts six times-all resulting in misses-and seven if you count last Sunday's try as two since it was a double-doink off both an upright and the crossbar. A hard-to-believe four came in the same game when the Bears beat Detroit back in November. Of course, the biggest miss (which was actually changed to a block upon further review that determined it was tipped at the line of scrimmage) was the most recent one. With Chicago trailing the visiting Eagles 16-15 in the final seconds of last week's wild-card contest, Cody infamously erred from 43 yards away to bring an abrupt end to the NFC North champions' season. Philadelphia is a +8 underdog at New Orleans on Sunday.

Houston Texans . Losing to the Colts is no shame; after all, they had won nine of their last 10 games heading into the playoffs. Still, Houston should have been able to make a wild-card showdown between two AFC South rivals at least somewhat competitive. Instead, the home team fell into a quick 21-0 deficit midway through the second quarter and did not find the scoreboard until the fourth. Indianapolis' reward is a road date with the top-seeded Chiefs this weekend. Kansas City is +400 to win the Super Bowl.

Alabama . The Crimson Tide failed to cover the -5.5 spread against Clemson in Monday's National Championship. They wouldn't have covered even if they had been +27.5 underdogs! That's right; head coach Nick Saban's crew committed a comedy of errors while also falling victim to an absolute buzzsaw as the Tigers rolled 44-16 behind freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence. "We certainly didn't play very well tonight; we had some issues," Saban lamented. "We couldn't get off the field on third down, we gave up a couple big time explosive plays on third down-third down and 13, third down and nine. We had plenty of opportunities to score offensively, [had] the ball at the one-yard line, get a penalty, end up kicking a field goal, [had] it down there a couple more times, do a fake field goal and go for it on fourth down and don't make it, get stopped on the goal line and one-yard line another time…." Clemson is a +175 favorite to repeat as national champion and Lawrence is a +285 favorite to win the Heisman Trophy.

Tom Thibodeau . Someone got fired after the Timberwolves destroyed the Lakers by 22 points this past Sunday. But it wasn't Luke Walton. No-even though his team was coming off a 108-86 drubbing of L.A., Thibodeau still got the boot as president of basketball operations and head coach. Minnesota was still a disappointing 19-21 following the victory (now 20-21 after Ryan Saunders won his debut as interim coach). The T-Wolves are -5 home favorites over Dallas on Friday.

Udoka Azubuike . Kansas will be without Azubuike for the rest of the season. He (13.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg) is done for the 2018-19 campaign because of torn ligaments in his right hand. A 7'1'' junior from Nigeria, Azubuike recently poured in 23 points in just 20 mintues of work against Eastern Michigan. He also went for 17 points and four blocks in only 20 minutes during a season-opening win over Michigan State. Kansas is +1200 to win the National Championship.

Gary Woodland . Woodland led by three shots (and led Xander Schauffele by five) heading into the final round of last week's Sentry Tournament of Champions in Kapalua. The 34-year-old American proceeded to card a 5-under 68. When you're leading by three (really five, since it was Schauffele who ended up winning the golf tournament) and shoot 5-under, you normally lift the trophy. Not so for Woodland last Sunday. Schauffele fired a ridiculous 11-under 62 to beat his compatriot 23-under to 22-under. "This one will sting," admitted Woodland, who needed a birdie on the par-5 last to force a playoff. "You have an iron into the par 5 in the middle of the fairway on the last hole, you expect to make birdie. I had killed the par 5s all week this week, which is what you've got to do out here. So I knew what he was doing and the competitor in me knew I needed to do one better. Unfortunately, I didn't get it done…. Sixty-two is obviously an awesome round of golf; hats off to Xander. That's really, really good." Schauffele is +3300 to win the Masters this spring; Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth are +1000 co-favorites.

Rafael Nadal . Nadal's year has begun just the way his 2018 campaign finished-in unceremonious, injury-plagued fashion. The second-ranked Spaniard withdrew from a recent Abu Dhabi exhibition after one match and then opted out of last week's tournament in Brisbane. He is heading into the Australian Open (which begins on Monday) having recently dealt with recent knee, ankle, hip, and thigh issues. Nadal is a +750 third choice to triumph Down Under; Novak Djokovic is a +120 favorite.

Start:	November 23, 2024 @ 2:30 PM
Expert:	Tony George
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Thank God it's Friday: Bears Bounced-Literally-Out of NFL Playoffs

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