This Weekend in NFL Stupid highlights the dumbest moments and decisions in football throughout the season. Coming out of Week 6, we’re focusing on a classic mistake from new Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy.
The stupidest of the stupid
The Bears were given a gift. They weren’t supposed to have life, but all they needed was a field goal to escape Miami with a victory after Dolphins running back Kenyan Drake fumbled on the goal line in overtime. Chicago was driving in the other direction, primed to finish the Dolphins off, when Nagy became comically conservative and cost his team the game.
Mitchell Trubisky completed a five-yard pass to tight end Trey Burton on the first play of that drive, but Nagy then didn’t let his second-year quarterback pass again. Back-to-back 15-plus-yard runs from Jordan Howard moved Chicago into long-shot field-goal range, and that was inexplicably enough for Nagy.
At the Miami 41-yard line, Nagy ran the ball conservatively on three consecutive downs, gaining just six yards from Howard, Tarik Cohen and Benny Cunningham and leaving Cody Parkey with a 53-yard field-goal attempt to win the game.
Parkey missed, because 53-yarders are hard to make. But that’s on his coach for taking an unnecessarily conservative approach.
Nagy isn’t alone — a lot of NFL head coaches make the mistake of assuming all field goals are automatic once you’re at around the 40-yard line. But he’s part of a new wave of young, offensive-minded head coaches. We expected better from him. Clamming up in that moment was both cowardly and stupid, and it might have been the difference between and win and a loss.
Lightning round
Come on, Dolphins. If you’re not going to just run a damn sneak with your 9-foot-tall quarterback here, at least have him under center…
Drake the type of back that will fumble at the 1 because you did. pic.twitter.com/cAV8R5JAbf
— Illinois Football Breakdown (@ILLFBBreakdown) October 14, 2018
A quarterback draw from the 20-yard line on your final gasp, Bucs? Sure, it’s not an easy situation, but at least toss it up and hope for a break or pass interference…
Bucs try some crazy lateral play to win it. Didn't work pic.twitter.com/WLgrNfap0r
— social cancer (@SlopingGiraffe) October 14, 2018
I’d like to introduce you to the most blatant missed false start in NFL history…
Tyrell Williams with another TD! Missed false start on Okung? Chargers up 21-3 pic.twitter.com/vpcTE5WIdQ
— uSTADIUM (@uSTADIUM) October 14, 2018
The Chiefs have to know to let Gronk score here…
This release for a guy that size is just absurd.
Gronk effectively destroys a CB for quickness at the line. pic.twitter.com/32BZkfwwqG
— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) October 15, 2018
Final stupid word
Leading 13-10 with about four minutes remaining, the Bills burnt a timeout in order to try to draw the Texans offside on a 4th-and-2 at their own 41-yard line. Nobody in the world expected Buffalo to snap the ball, but head coach Sean McDermott wasted a valuable timeout anyway.
That’s a timeout they could have used three minutes later when they were frantically trying to drive down the field while trailing 20-13.
Idiots.
