This year on This weekend in NFL stupid, we’re focusing on one extremely stupid winner with an honorable mention or two on a weekly basis. To close out Week 12 of the 2015 regular season, we look back on a strange decision (or lack thereof) from a coach who continues to make bad ones.
The winner: Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan
It was a tough week for Ryan, who stupidly decided to punt on a 4th-and-2 down 10 in the fourth quarter Monday night against the Patriots and then followed that up by inexplicably failing to challenge the ruling of an incomplete pass on what appeared to be a clear-cut catch from Chris Hogan Sunday against the Chiefs.
Down eight points with two and a half minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Hogan looked like he had a first down here…
But Ryan never challenged and the Bills were left fighting an uphill battle with a 3rd-and-10. They’d fail to convert there and on fourth down and the game was essentially over.
Insane.
The runner-up: Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin
Sometimes, cute and stupid are the same thing. That’s why Tomlin is being called out here for a strange fourth-down decision Sunday in Seattle.
The Steelers had a 4th-and-2 on the Seattle 27-yard line in the second quarter when they sent out the field-goal unit. But everyone knows Pittsburgh is the most aggressive team in football, so the Seahawks were probably aware that a fake might be coming.
Nobody was shocked when backup quarterback Landry Jones moved back into a deep shotgun just before the snap, which is why Jones proceeded to throw an ugly interception on a pass intended for an offensive lineman.
Mike, you have the league’s fourth-best offense. You have Ben freakin’ Roethlisberger. Why are you getting fancy and having your backup quarterback throw to a 275-pound left tackle on an important play in an important game?
The pick was returned for 54 yards, leading to a Seattle touchdown. That might have been as much as a 14-point swing. In other words, it might have cost the Steelers the game.
Keep it simple, stupid.
