The Chicago Bears rolled into the playoffs this year with confidence. The 2018 – 2019 season looked like it would be one for the record books. With an impressive new coach that had his team exceeding even the high expectations of its very zealous fanbase and a relentless defense that defied the modern style of offense-focused play, the Bears managed to won their division for the first time since 2010.

The Bears were slated in the first round to play the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, who seemed to be limping into the offseason. The mighty Monsters of the Midway were a 6.5 point favorite to win the game. All signs pointed to victory.

Until they didn’t.

In football, as in life, things do not always go as planned.

It all came down to that final kick. A 43 yard field goal would win the game. Kicker Cody Parkey stepped up to attempt the kick, undoubtedly the biggest of his career.

Soldier Field was silent. Bears fans on their feet, ready to erupt into cheers of victory. The ball was snapped cleanly and held in place. Parkey stepped up and kicked the ball straight, with what looked like enough distance. And then––DOUBLE DOINK––the ball hit the left upright, bouncing down to also hit the crossbar, and finally onto the field below. The Eagles won.

Social media wasted no time weighing in. My newsfeed was flooded with colorful expletives, $%&$%& directed @codyparkey.

The memes were quick to follow. My personal favorite was one showing a photograph of Parkey about to kick the football, but his head is replaced via photoshop with a blindfolded Sandra Bullock, in a nod to the Netflix hit movie Bird Box. Clever, scathing and timely.

I even heard that a giant billboard went up in Philadelphia that simply read, “Double Doink!” That was all it needed to say apparently. Everyone knew what it meant.

Whatever the delivery method: expletives, memes, or billboards, the message was clear. Society was blaming one player, one moment, for the painful outcome of the game.

I understand the blame. It was a one point game. Time was about to expire. It was an elimination game. The three points would have been the difference maker.

But football, like life, is not so simple. Can anything ever be boiled down to a single moment or a single action?

If we are being honest about the Bears/Eagles game, many factors led to the outcome coming down to that ultimate play. If the defense hadn’t let the Eagles score on their last drive then the Bears would have been up going into that final drive. And if the last punt to the Eagles had gove father, perhaps they wouldn’t have scored.

So why are we so quick to find fault? Football is a team sport. No one player is responsible for a win, so why do we blame the loss on one player. It seems as though we force away the idea that the Eagles played better than us because it is easier to think that we only have one fault.

It makes me consider where I am too quick to assess blame in other areas of my life. Perhaps when faced with failure we must first look for fault in ourselves rather than others. And maybe sometimes we can blame one person, even ourselves, too much.

So I ask you, next time you feel frustrated or defeated, don’t blame one person and move on. Take the loss as a group, and look at it as an opportunity to improve for the future.