There are only a few weeks left in the regular season of the NFL. While some teams are embroiled in the thick of the playoff hunt, others are playing out the string. And the Jaguars and Chiefs are locked in a competition to see who can be bad enough to net the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.
The Week in Worst: It’s not getting any better
Jump kicks, flips and laterals to nobody. Once again, it’s the Week in Worst.
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Bill Hanstock is a writer, author and Emmy Award-winning producer. He began writing for SB Nation in 2011.
Before we get to the GIFs, we really need to give special mention to Sunday's game between the New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals. That was probably the very worst game of the season -- at the very least, it was the worst-quarterbacked. While we couldn't GIF the whole game for you, we wanted to give them a special nod. Not everyone can be so good at being so bad, but they really came through in the clutch. Here's to you, fellas! You were too bad at football to make the Week in Worst.
Here are the worst plays of NFL’s Week 13.
Worst Touchdown
Player: Earl Bennett
Date: Dec. 2
Sometimes, even something good can be terrible. Witness here as Earl "Crazylegs" Bennett gets lambasted in the hip, nearly kicks himself in the back of the head and flips teakettle-over-ass into the end zone. For most people, this counts as a spectacularly bad day. In the NFL, it's a rousing success.
Worst Missed Tackle
Team: Detroit Lions
Date: Dec. 2
Three Lions defenders. Not a one can even muster the merest of tackles on this game-winning Colts touchdown by Donnie Avery. Chris Houston (No. 23) appears to have the best angle, but (rightfully) realizes that the touchdown is as good as scored. Meanwhile, Justin Durant (No. 52) is too busy being all like "LOOKA ME I'M A JET AEROPLANE NRRRYYYOOWNNNNN" to make an earnest attempt at tacklage. Jacob Lacey (No. 21), meanwhile, believes that discretion is the better part of valor.
Worst Interception
Player: Philip Rivers
Date: Dec. 2
This play could have won the game for the San Diego Chargers! But, uh ... they're the Chargers, sooooooo:
Were you pretty invested in that one, Phil?
Meh indeed, Phil. Meh ... indeed.
Worst Fumble
Player: Emmanuel Sanders
Date: Dec. 2
“Ah, another expertly-caught pass and a wide-open field. Now to effortlessly switch the ball to m’carryin’ hand and OH NO WHY AM I SO STRONG”
Worst Touchdown Celebration
Player: Stevan Ridley
Date: Dec. 2
Ridley is clearly a practitioner of the ancient and noble art of mime. As any good mimist knows, you must first establish the boundaries of your invisible surface. How is anyone going to know you're trapped in a box if you don't sketch out the approximate dimensions of your confines? You must then establish your pantomimed creation is a solid, not just stupid air. And of course, the third and most important part of any mime's act: JUMP KICKS.
Worst Fake Injury
Player: Cullen Jenkins
Date: Dec. 2
Pay very close attention as Cullen Jenkins demonstrates how not to flop. If you're faking a leg injury, you probably shouldn't sprint right off the field. That's not a good deke, bro. At the very least, give it the ol' limp-jog we all perfected in gym class. This is sub-professional flopistry and we won't stand for it. This GIF is like the Eagles' 2012 season, but in reverse. Actually, it's exactly like the Eagles' season, because it features an Eagles player being really bad at something.
Worst Lateral
Player: Colin Kaepernick
Date: Dec. 2
Haha whoa where was THAT one going? Still an improvement from Alex Smith, though.
Here's the thing: the San Francisco 49ers are not a bad team. In fact, they're a very, very good team. But for some reason, Jeff Fisher's Rams are their Kryptonite. Fisher has solved Jim Harbaugh's Sphinx's riddle, but the end result is four-plus quarters of generally lousy football. It's the NFL equivalent of this. That may seem cute and fun, but it isn't. It's just crappy football.
Worst Trick Play
Team: Pittsburgh Steelers
Date: Dec. 2
Antonio Brown is not a quarterback. The Steelers don't really have a quarterback right now. They're using modified T-shirt guns and salad shooters for the most part. They tried the old left-handed wide receiver pass on Sunday but it ah ... didn't turn out so well. On one hand, points for trying. On the other hand: different, more literal points for the Ravens. The Steelers wound up winning this game, so what do I know?
Hint: I know that you should never have Antonio Brown try to throw a deep pass.
Worst ... Whatever This Was
Player: Haruki Nakamura
Date: Dec. 2
That’s Nakamura up there. No. 43. Leaping into nowhere like he’s Gonzo trying to hail a taxi. Not even the slightest clue what he might have been leaping toward. Watch it again and again. There’s no conceivable target. The play is already over. He’s not moving fast enough that leaping over the dogpile was the only way to avoid running into it.
This might be one of my favorite GIFs of 2012.
Worst Play
Game: Cleveland Browns vs. Oakland Raiders
Date: Dec. 2
Sometimes the Raiders play the Browns. Not often, because too much exposure to that sort of thing could potentially spell disaster for the entire human race. And sometimes in those games, you get the ultimate encapsulation of the Raiders playing the Browns. The perfect storm of crud. Kind of like the movie The Perfect Storm, but without the crowd-pleasing happy ending.
Sometimes Brandon Weeden collapses to the ground and tosses a lame-duck pass directly to a Raiders defensive back. Sometimes that player can't even catch a tailor-made interception. Sometimes everyone just ends up laying on the ground, all looking at one another like they can't believe how much they all suck. Sometimes that gets captured in GIF form.
Every time, it's the perfect ending to the Week in Worst.
