This weekend in NFL stupid is back for a third season, and this year we’ll look to focus on one extremely stupid winner with an honorable mention or two on a weekly basis. To kick off the 2015 season, we have an undisputed champion of stupidity in Eli Manning of the New York Giants, who managed to botch the final moments of a heartbreaking loss to the Dallas Cowboys in incredibly dumb fashion.
The winner: New York Giants quarterback Manning
The Giants had a three-point lead with five minutes to go Sunday night in Dallas. And then, despite moving the ball well, Manning did everything wrong from a game-management standpoint. And it’s why they lost.
- With the clock running and just over four minutes left on a a 3rd-and-2, Manning took a snap with 17 seconds remaining on the play clock. When you’re preserving a lead against a division rival in the final moments, you take a minimum of 35 seconds off of that 40-second play clock. Manning failed to recognize that.
- On 2nd-and-goal from the Dallas 2-yard line with 1:50 to play, Manning failed to realize how many timeouts the Cowboys had left, because looking at the scoreboard is hard, and told running back Rashad Jennings NOT TO SCORE on the upcoming play. Jennings, who felt he could have scored if he wanted to, would have essentially put the game away with a touchdown.
- Possibly because Jennings went 0-for-2 at the goal line (Coughlin apparently wasn’t aware that Jenning was stupidly lying down), the Giants run play-action. But when Manning is flushed out and has nowhere to throw, he tosses the ball away (stopping the clock) instead of giving himself up by sliding or taking a knee (or hell, even taking a sack). That buys the Cowboys an extra 40 seconds.
Remember, Dallas won the game with a touchdown that came with just seven seconds left, so if any of those three things don’t happen, the Giants almost definitely win this game.
It’s just amazing. How is it that Manning didn’t know how many timeouts the Cowboys had? And how is it that Jennings — also a veteran — was oblivious enough not to do the math and call Manning out on his stupid-ass advice? How could Manning — in his 12th NFL season — lack such basic game-management skills?
For this, he is our idiot of the week.
Runner-up: New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton
Considering how often we mentioned Payton in this space last year, it’s incredible how he seems to continue to avoid heavy criticism. Last year, Payton had the Saints run a fake punt down by two scores in the fourth quarter on a 4th-and-9 from their 41-yard line, which was just foolish considering how well his offense had been playing.
This Sunday, he had them punt on a 4th-and-6 from their own 7-yard line with two minutes left in a game they trailed by five. Payton had just two timeouts left and no two-minute warning, so he was essentially picking between:
- Stop the Cardinals on three plays, get the ball back with about a minute left and march 80 or so yards for a game-winning touchdown.
- Convert a very manageable fourth down with your future Hall of Fame quarterback, giving you 1:45 to march another 80 or so yards for a game-winning touchdown.
Nobody in their right mind should have chosen option 1. Payton did.
