The final week of the NFL regular season is dumb. Really dumb. The brain-fart and screw-up quotient was through the roof with over half the league having nothing to play for, and it gave us a sublime reminder of how weird football can be.
Every dumb thing that happened in NFL Week 17
What a time to be alive.
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
The Eagles’ punter forgot he was wearing pants.
This might be the first time we’ve seen a punter disrobe on the field. Nicely done, Donnie Jones.
Mitchell Trubisky forgot where he was.
We got to see a very rare intentional-grounding safety from the Bears’ rookie. Granted, it probably would have been a safety anyway — but wow.
The Vikings didn’t know where the ball went.
The Vikings had no clue the Bears were running this punt fake, which was really the only thing that went well for Chicago on Sunday. Heck, it fooled the FOX camera crew, which was convinced the ball was on the other side of the field.
The Eagles and Cowboys were 0-0 at the half.
Nobody likes working in the week between Christmas and New Year’s anyway.
The Browns had a Piesman moment.
The Piesman is SB Nation’s award to the college big man doing very un-big man things — and one of the Browns’ best moments came courtesy of 307-pound Caleb Brantley, who was sublimely beautiful.
T.Y. Hilton and Jonathan Joseph got into a fight.
The Colts and Texans are a combined 7-23 on the season. And they’re fighting. Fighting in Week 17 is pointless. Fighting when both teams are terrible is just dumb.
This Pats player flopped like a fish when he took a spike to the face.
And the Oscar goes to ... Johnson Bademosi of the Pats for this flop. Honestly, this might be the first KO by spike I’ve ever seen.
James Harrison had himself a day.
James Harrison having big games isn’t some anomaly over the course of his career, but he got two garbage time sacks against the Jets, including a forced fumble, that doubled his production with the Steelers in 2017 — all in one game.
What a time to be alive.
This stat.
Patrick Mahomes got his first NFL start and tried to change this, but let it be a reminder that Brodie Croyle went 0-10.
This facemask block.
THE RAIDERS ARE OUT HERE USING THEIR HEADS!
The impressive thing is you can see the helmet bulge slightly when the ball hits it. That’s how friggin’ hard the ball was kicked into the lineman’s face. Just absurd.
Joe Flacco’s stat line.
Look at this thing ... LOOK AT IT! Joe Flacco took 16 attempts to gain 17 yards passing at one point on Sunday. Playing in the NFL is rough, but I suspect a lot of people could gain 17 yards with 16 chances in the the league.
Remember that time he won a Super Bowl?
Cam Newton threw one of the worst interceptions you’ll ever see.
Falcons DB Ricardo Allen might as well have been Cam’s intended receiver this was so dumb. Seriously, have you ever seen a pass this bad that didn’t happen because the ball slid out of the QB’s hand, or because he got hit from behind?
Astoundingly, impressively awful.
Whatever the heck this is ...
Keep in mind this is how the Titans almost got eliminated from playoff contention. Marcus Mariota and Derrick Henry running into each other and popping the ball up might have been the funniest way a team has ever been eliminated from the playoffs. It’s just so perfect.
This backfumble.
It’s not quite a butt fumble, but a back fumble is almost equally bad.
