Dec 15, 2018; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos head coach Vance Joseph reacts on the sideline in the third quarter against the Cleveland Browns at Broncos Stadium at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

This Weekend in NFL Stupid highlights the dumbest moments and decisions in football throughout the season. Coming out of Week 15, we’re focusing on the league’s worst situational coach.

The stupidest of the stupid

It’s amazing we’ve yet to dedicate this section entirely to Vance Joseph. We’ve called him out many times before, but Joseph’s coaching performance Saturday night clinched it: He’s simply the worst at making on-the-fly calls in close football games.

Exhibit 1: Down four points with 4:35 remaining, Joseph settled for a field-goal attempt rather than going for it on 4th-and-6 at the Cleveland 11-yard line.

Some might suggest that was simply Joseph “trusting his defense.” But that’s ridiculous because he was basically out of healthy cornerbacks. It’s also ridiculous because it makes no sense.

And it was also stupid because Denver was already down a timeout. Why? Because Joseph did this earlier on before a play at the opposing 21-yard line…

As a result, the Broncos got the ball back with way less time remaining than they otherwise would have. And on that last-ditch drive, they…

1. Wasted nearly 15 seconds before spiking the ball on a first down at midfield with 52 seconds remaining…

2. Ran this play on third down…

It’s been a slice, Vance.

Lightning round

Make that 10 consecutive lost challenges for the clueless Mike Tomlin, who had an entire commercial break to see that the Patriots didn’t step on the goal line on this downed punt but inexplicably threw the red flag anyway…

Come on, Todd Gurley and Gerald Everett. You probably cost your offense two more shots at the end zone with the game on the line. Gotta get out of bounds in these situations…

We may need to rethink what merits a disqualification…

Regarding Bill O’Brien and Todd Bowles Saturday night, MDS sums it up well…

Final stupid word

This is not the first time this has happened this year…

What the hell is going on? Delay of game isn’t a hard thing to miss. The back judge needs a moment to move his eyes from the play clock to the quarterback before blowing the play dead, which is why there’s essentially a split-second grace period. This is more than a split-second, and it’s one of several easy, rarely-missed calls that have been missed far too often in 2018.

My theory? Officiating errors are seemingly up across the league because these guys are simply overwhelmed by an increasingly bloated, overly complicated rule book.

This problem won’t go away until major changes are made that enable officials to focus on and remember less.

About Brad Gagnon

Brad Gagnon has been passionate about both sports and mass media since he was in diapers -- a passion that won't die until he's in them again. Based in Toronto, he's worked as a national NFL blog editor at theScore.com, a producer and writer at theScore Television Network and a host, reporter and play-by-play voice at Rogers TV. His work has also appeared at CBSSports.com, Deadspin, FoxSports.com, The Guardian, The Hockey News and elsewhere at Comeback Media, but his day gig has him covering the NFL nationally for Bleacher Report.