Treyvon Hester, Not A Missed Kick, Advanced Eagles to Divisional Round

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By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

While much of Eagles Nation was singing the praises of former Eagle Cody Parkey for missing a field goal that would have put the season away. Instead, he sealed an Eagles win and seemingly helped his former team advance to the Divisional Round.

Instead, it seems that the team has a different hero: Treyvon Hester. Hester was able to get up and tip the ball on that kick. He didn’t get much, but it was enough to change the spin on the kick and force it to pull just enough to the left to seal an Eagles victory.

Was Cody Parkey's final kick tipped by Treyvon Hester? 🕵️

(via @ScottGustin) pic.twitter.com/VI7tbWA3Lh

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) January 7, 2019

Many fans may not even know who Hester is. With so many injuries forcing players onto the injured reserves, the team has had to bring in many players and develop them with the hopes that they can contribute. What makes Hester so under the radar is that he was not involved in an injury transaction, however.

Hester was added to the practice squad following being cut by the Oakland Raiders. Someone cut by the second-worst team in the league being signed to the Super Bowl Champions’ practice squad doesn’t get a whole lot of attention.

He was then added in a move that essentially switched he and Bruce Hector. It was a move where the Birds dropped someone who really wasn’t contributing for someone else not expected to contribute.

Despite registering only one sack and 13 tackles over 12 games, Hester maintained his spot on the active roster. That spot allowed him to make the biggest play of his career.

The Eagles defense is made up largely of back-ups. Among them are Cre’Von LeBlanc, Daeshon Hall and Treyvon Hester – three players who were cut by other teams and learned the system on the fly mid-season.

The Eagles coaches and player leadership deserve a lot of credit for being able to pick up these players off the street and turn them into productive players. Until Sunday, Hester had been the least productive player of the three. Now he’s stepped up.

The team and fans should feel more comfortable in the fact that the Eagles did not win by chance – they made a play to win the game. Not only that, but the team is getting production from their second-string guys that they acquired out of nowhere.

Update: Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reports that the NFL has officially changed the scoring of the game to reflect a blocked kick instead of a miss.

Stat update that is unlikely to make #Bears K Cody Parkey feel any better: The NFL officially changed his missed FG to a block by #Eagles DL Treyvon Hester.

Q4, :10 Field Goal Blocked by PHI 90 T.Hester

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 7, 2019