Worst play in NFL history POLL

[DJnVa]

I think the difference is a fumble or a bad kick aren't what they were trying to do--they sometimes happen. This was a lateral 30 yards backwards to a slow QB who was never going to outrun 11 defenders and had no one else behind him to lateral to.

I don't know, I don't want to spend the week miserable so it's over.

I like spending time on things that make me happy, so I won't torture myself reading about it all week.

 

[lexrageorge]

Does the Heidi game count? Or is it the fact that it was AFL disqualify it?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_Game

 

[Deweys New Stance]

Voted Marshall, only because he not only ran the wrong way, he kept running. Not just a momentary brainfart but 5-10 seconds of total cluelessness.

In insolation without considering game outcome and context, I would have voted Marshall as well. But despite the safety the Vikings actually won that game, and Marshall even forced a fumble that Carl Eller ran back for a touchdown. Also should be noted that Marshall played for the Vikings for another 15 seasons after that play.

I went with Pisarcik. Yesterday was close though. And Yepremian should get more play because that was a horrible 'pass' in the SB that should not have even been attempted. What should have been a comfortable victory became a nail-biter at the end.

 

[trekfan55]

Do you think any non-Pats fan will remember unprompted the Meyers play 5+ years from now? Because it needs to rise to that level to compare to every other one posted.

I’m guessing no.

I am guessing yes. Pats fans are used not only to winning, but have rightfully expoected not to make stupid mistakes on the field. Throwing an INT or failing to convert a hey 3rd ord 4th down is not that.

This was. The good thing is Myers admitted he got "cute" and screwed up. Owned it 100%.

Now, if the Pats can right the ship next year and embark on more years of solid football then maybe people will remember it but it will not come up as much.

2004 and onwards helped erase a lot of bad Sox memories (or at least made them less painful)

Tonight was stupid but come on.

Also do we mean stupidest play in NFL history or worst? Because the Malcolm Butler INT may not have been a stupid play (YMMV) but I am guessing every Seahawks fan out there thinks it is the worst.

I think the OP was going for stupid, or bad.

A play like the Butler INT was a pass (that should have been a run) that well read and intercepted. There are many of those in NFL history.

 

[Al Zarilla]

Voted Marshall, only because he not only ran the wrong way, he kept running. Not just a momentary brainfart but 5-10 seconds of total cluelessness.

Might have kept, still keeping Marshall out of the hall of fame. 20 years in the NFL with an AV of 168.

 

[brandonchristensen]

Worst play in NFL history ended with Malcolm Butler going down at the 2 yard line and it isn't close.

Was that really THE WORST play though? The result was horrible, but it took perfect preparation and execution to make that play. Butler operated on pure instinct and created a turnover on a play that likely works most of the time. Yes, they should have ran it again - but still. The outcome was awful for the Hawks, but I consider that more of a legendary defensive play than a horrible offensive one.

 

[Ferm Sheller]

Was that really THE WORST play though? The result was horrible, but it took perfect preparation and execution to make that play. Butler operated on pure instinct and created a turnover on a play that likely works most of the time. Yes, they should have ran it again - but still. The outcome was awful for the Hawks, but I consider that more of a legendary defensive play than a horrible offensive one.

Under the totality of the circumstances, yes. I consider the decision to run that play with the Super Bowl at stake, and not just the execution of the play itself, to be a big part of the calculus.They were at the one-yard line and they had a beast of a RB at the ready.

 

[hikeeba]

With Pisarcik, the OC, Bob Gibson, was fired the next day (and never coached again)..... Hint, hint....

 

[brandonchristensen]

Under the totality of the circumstances, yes. I consider the decision to run that play with the Super Bowl at stake, and not just the execution of the play itself, to be a big part of the calculus.They were at the one-yard line and they had a beast of a RB at the ready.

I don't know. I've seen arguments for and against. I don't want to get too deep in the weeds, but I credit the coaching staff (For not calling a TO) and Butler's execution just as much, if not more, than the play call itself.

 

[Sandwich Pick]

I had completely forgotten about this Ryan Leaf gem before halftime. Everything about this play is terrible.

View: https://youtu.be/ObXaMbwsqb8

 

[djbayko]

I think the difference is a fumble or a bad kick aren't what they were trying to do--they sometimes happen. This was a lateral 30 yards backwards to a slow QB who was never going to outrun 11 defenders and had no one else behind him to lateral to.

I don't know, I don't want to spend the week miserable so it's over.

I like spending time on things that make me happy, so I won't torture myself reading about it all week.

Right. My working assumption is that candidate plays should be mental mistakes or bad decisions, not the physical outcome of plays. I’m sure Michael Jordan air balled a few free throws.

Basically, the natural fan reaction should be “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” and not “How the hell did that happen?”

 

[DanoooME]

Under the totality of the circumstances, yes. I consider the decision to run that play with the Super Bowl at stake, and not just the execution of the play itself, to be a big part of the calculus.They were at the one-yard line and they had a beast of a RB at the ready.

As a Seahawks fan, I apply blame in this order:

1. Darrell Bevell (OC) for calling the play in the first place
2. Pete Carroll for not overruling Bevell and then covering for him after the game
3. Russell Wilson for throwing a poor pass
4. Ricardo Lockette for not making more of an effort for the ball.

It's still a great play by a guy who prepared for that exact scenario and that's where most of the credit/blame deserves to go.

In the end, that Super Bowl still does not exist.

 

[Rudy's Curve]

They obviously fucked up by letting too much time run off (and credit to BB for letting that happen) but once it happened, they had to throw on second down with one timeout left. If Lynch got stuffed (not likely, but it's possible) they would've had to burn the timeout and then couldn't run on third. Maybe I wouldn't have called for a quick slant on the goal line with a 5'11 QB, but they had to throw there. They probably should've rolled Wilson out and had him throw it away if nothing was there.

 

[natpastime162]

Pat McAffee was hoping to lose this crown.

After posting I decided to check up and he definitely thinks there’s a new champion.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xol4Dvn_lck

 

[luckiestman]

The backwards pass is pretty bad but the stiff arm and Mac looking like a small child adds a butt fumble aspect that is very funny. The butt fumble alone is funnier than the stiff arm on Mac. However, the game context and two goofy laterals leading to the stiff arm and subsequent score and loss make this an impressively bad play.

 

[Granite Sox]

This was the worst; it resulted in a TD, it ended the game, it cost the fumbling team (Patriots) a victory, and likely ended their season. I don’t think any of the other plays had the same aggregate impact.

 

[pedro1918]

...it cost the fumbling team (Patriots) a victory

No it didn't. It cost them an opportunity for OT.

 

[BaseballJones]

This is what bothers me about sports reporting and commentary these days. It's one thing IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT, posting on a fan message board, to say, "This is Belichick's fault - why didn't he just tell them to go down?" (on that crazy last play)

But for a national columnist to say that long after the press conferences where both Rhamondre Stevenson and Jacobi Meyers said that the coaches, in fact, told them to do exactly that, and took 100% of the blame on themselves, is utterly inexcusable.

To wit:

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-week-15-winners-and-losers-plus-weekly-grades-for-every-team-and-rams-packers-mnf-picks/

"Loser: Bill Belichick. The award for most boneheaded play of the day goes to the Patriots, who lost in the most shocking way possible to the Raiders when Chandler Jones stole a lateral out of the air and then returned it 48 yards for a touchdown on the final play that gave Las Vegas a 30-24 win. Why were the Patriots lateraling the ball on the final play of a tie game? No one has any idea. Although it's easy to blame Rhamondre Stevenson or Jakobi Meyers here for lateraling the ball, the ultimate blame falls on Belichick. If he didn't want his players lateraling, he should have made that crystal clear before the final play was called. This was an epic failure on the part of the Patriots caused by horrible decision-making that you don't usually see from Belichick-coached teams."

I mean, he DID make it crystal clear, as both Stevenson and Meyers attested to in their press conferences after the game. For this guy John Breech, writing this THIS AFTERNOON, long after the game, long after they both said this in their press conferences, displays a lack of professionalism that really bothers me.

Again, it's one thing for us fans, in the moments following the play, to say this stuff. We didn't know any better. But for a national columnist, the next day, to say this, after the players said, uh, yeah, Belichick told us exactly that, is just journalistic malpractice.

 

[SumnerH]

Under the totality of the circumstances, yes. I consider the decision to run that play with the Super Bowl at stake, and not just the execution of the play itself, to be a big part of the calculus.They were at the one-yard line and they had a beast of a RB at the ready.

Lynch wasn't a sure thing in such scenarios: he'd been stopped in numerous short-yardage do-or-die situations that year. After hearing all the grumbling all off-season about how handing off to Lynch would've iced it, their game to open 2015 against the Rams ended with a 4th and 1 where they did just that and Lynch went down for a loss of 1 (and that was the 2nd time in the game he'd failed on a run attempting to pick up 1 YTG, though the other was on a 2nd down and was converted on 3rd with a passing play).

 

[Ferm Sheller]

Lynch wasn't a sure thing in such scenarios: he'd been stopped in numerous short-yardage do-or-die situations that year. After hearing all the grumbling all off-season about how handing off to Lynch would've iced it, their game to open 2015 against the Rams ended with a 4th and 1 where they did just that and Lynch went down for a loss of 1 (and that was the 2nd time in the game he'd failed on a run attempting to pick up 1 YTG, though the other was on a 2nd down and was converted on 3rd with a passing play).

That Pats D was gassed and Swiss cheese by that point in the game. Very unlikely that they would stop Lynch in that particular situation in my opinion. I’m glad that we’ll never know for sure, however.

 

[Average Reds]

Player stupidity is a special kind of what-was-he-thinking entertainment, but if we’re talking galactic stupidity, we have to look to the plays that were ordered from the sidelines.

As a life-long Eagles fan excited by their (mild) resurgence in the late 70s - they had an outside shot at the playoffs that year if they beat the Giants - I was watching the “Miracle at the Meadowlands” game. When the Eagles threw a late interception while driving for the winning score, I was disconsolate. There was less that two minutes left and the Eagles had no timeouts. The game was over.

All of this is recounted in an attempt to explain why, when the Giants took the first snap and had Pisarcik roll to the ground (which was how it was done in those pre-kneel down days) I switched the channel in disgust. Because the Eagles had no chance and I just couldn’t take the pain.

Imagine my shock when, after turning the dial to the AFC game on channel 3, I saw a scroll across the bottom on the screen that read “Philadelphia 18, New York Giants 17.” (Note: They hadn’t even kicked the extra point.) I was puzzled and thought “WTF just happened?” and quickly switched back.

As I watched the Eagles celebrate in the end zone, I learned, to my astonishment, that the Giants OC had called for a completely unnecessary handoff because he somehow got it into his brain that Pisarcik might be injured if he simply went down again and the Eagles piled on in an attempt to jar the ball loose. And because the head coach had already started celebrating the win and removed his headphones, he never heard the call, which he would have changed.

Are there human failures - like the butt fumble, any number of Leon Lett plays, or Sunday’s clown show - that are more embarrassing? Sure. But, as a conscious and completely unnecessary decision, the botched Pisarcik hand off has to be the worst I can remember. (The Butler interception may be close, but not as inexplicable in my mind.)

Just one man’s opinion.

 

[BaseballJones]

That Pats D was gassed and Swiss cheese by that point in the game. Very unlikely that they would stop Lynch in that particular situation in my opinion. I’m glad that we’ll never know for sure, however.

I don’t agree with that at all. The Seahawks got a touchdown in the third quarter following Brady’s second pick. After that, they had three straight drives that went like this:

4 plays, 33 yards, 2:20, punt
3 plays, -5 yards, 2:07, punt
3 plays, 5 yards, 1:03, punt

So when the Pats really needed the defense to step up, they did, big time, basically stoning the Seahawks and spending very little time on the field.

Then came that last drive, which really consisted of two big plays (let’s call it three). First the wheel route to Lynch that Collins misplayed, for a 31 yard gain. Then they allowed an 11-yard gain on third and ten when Wilson hit Lockett for the first down. And then came the crazy inexplicable Kearse catch that was brilliantly played by Butler.

I don’t think the defense was gassed at all. They were playing great, but gave up one long play on a mistake by Collins and then the freak, once in a lifetime kind of play by Kearse.

Running Lynch still may have been the best idea but not because the Pats’ defense was gassed.

 

[mauf]

The Pisarcik-Csonka foul-up occurred when I was 4 years old. When I asked my son about it yesterday, he immediately knew the play. So that’s the one that gets my vote. But I think the Meyers play is in the pantheon with that one, the Yepremian play, and the butt fumble. Maybe the wrong-way play too, but that happened before the NFL was the televised spectacle it is now.

The Colts play isn’t in the same ballpark. Trick plays that don’t work look dumb; that one was worse than most, but that’s all.

 

[Harry Hooper]

This is what bothers me about sports reporting and commentary these days. It's one thing IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT, posting on a fan message board, to say, "This is Belichick's fault - why didn't he just tell them to go down?" (on that crazy last play)

But for a national columnist to say that long after the press conferences where both Rhamondre Stevenson and Jacobi Meyers said that the coaches, in fact, told them to do exactly that, and took 100% of the blame on themselves, is utterly inexcusable.

To wit:

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-week-15-winners-and-losers-plus-weekly-grades-for-every-team-and-rams-packers-mnf-picks/

"Loser: Bill Belichick. The award for most boneheaded play of the day goes to the Patriots, who lost in the most shocking way possible to the Raiders when Chandler Jones stole a lateral out of the air and then returned it 48 yards for a touchdown on the final play that gave Las Vegas a 30-24 win. Why were the Patriots lateraling the ball on the final play of a tie game? No one has any idea. Although it's easy to blame Rhamondre Stevenson or Jakobi Meyers here for lateraling the ball, the ultimate blame falls on Belichick. If he didn't want his players lateraling, he should have made that crystal clear before the final play was called. This was an epic failure on the part of the Patriots caused by horrible decision-making that you don't usually see from Belichick-coached teams."

I mean, he DID make it crystal clear, as both Stevenson and Meyers attested to in their press conferences after the game. For this guy John Breech, writing this THIS AFTERNOON, long after the game, long after they both said this in their press conferences, displays a lack of professionalism that really bothers me.

Again, it's one thing for us fans, in the moments following the play, to say this stuff. We didn't know any better. But for a national columnist, the next day, to say this, after the players said, uh, yeah, Belichick told us exactly that, is just journalistic malpractice.

Very disappointing to hear Andy Hart with this same take this morning. There is so much legit terrain to question BB about, but this isn't in that range.

 

[luckiestman]

The Pisarcik-Csonka foul-up occurred when I was 4 years old. When I asked my son about it yesterday, he immediately knew the play. So that’s the one that gets my vote. But I think the Meyers play is in the pantheon with that one, the Yepremian play, and the butt fumble. Maybe the wrong-way play too, but that happened before the NFL was the televised spectacle it is now.

The Colts play isn’t in the same ballpark. Trick plays that don’t work look dumb; that one was worse than most, but that’s all.

The wrong way play is so great that I have shown it to my kids and my son told his friends about it. A lot of it is the call. That call is imprinted on me because of the blooper video I got when I was young and it was my favorite play on that tape.

My favorite part of this weekend’s play is when Zolak says: ohmygod when Chandler Jones catches the ball.

The Mac attempted tackle gets funnier every time I see it

View: https://twitter.com/mysportsupdate/status/1604672340301946880?s=46&t=x6gQVe-9-BjkxsMkUzc8lA

 

[Mystic Merlin]

The only way I can see picking the Meyers play over Pisarcik, Leon Lett on Thanksgiving, or the wrong way play is recency bias.

The buttfumble, Yepremian play, and Colts fake punt you could argue about.

 

[luckiestman]

The only way I can see picking the Meyers play over Pisarcik, Leon Lett on Thanksgiving, or the wrong way play is recency bias.

The buttfumble and Colts fake punt you could argue about.

The buttfumble is funnier as a blooper, it just looks funnier. Unfortunate for me because Sanchez is my guy. It’s nowhere near as dumb but it’s funnier.

 

[worm0082]

View: https://mobile.twitter.com/pixelnfl/status/1605686547797327872

 

[pedro1918]

They had injury issues and backups in.

Sorry to jump backwards in the conversation, but in regard to the Whalen/Colts play the fact they had injury issues and back ups in doesn't make it less dumb. It makes it dumber that the coaching staff ever called the play.

 

[tims4wins]

Sorry to jump backwards in the conversation, but in regard to the Whalen/Colts play the fact they had injury issues and back ups in doesn't make it less dumb. It makes it dumber that the coaching staff ever called the play.

It was a call against a set look. Similar to the Patrick Chung fake punt in that shitty 2010 divisional loss. You are right they should have stripped it from the game plan with a backup
in though.

 

[brandonchristensen]

View: https://mobile.twitter.com/pixelnfl/status/1605686547797327872

That’s pretty amazing

 

[Eric1984]

Yepremian. Mainly because it looked funny (though I was 2 at the time so I only saw it later) and because it was the Super Bowl. It legitimately imperiled their perfect season.

 

[Al Zarilla]

Pisarcik because it turned an Eagles loss into a victory for them. "Our biggest gaffe ever" just turned a tie into a loss. No, more that Giants just didn't use what is now the victory formation and opted for a handoff instead. Stupid. However, I don't think the V formation was as automatic then like we've seen the GOAT run a zillion times. Quite often a handoff was still used at the end of supposed wins.