Sour Rankings: Snap blunders, unnecessary dabbing rule Week 16
The updated Power Rankings arrive on Wednesday. But first, the Sour Rankings take a spin through the worst of the past week in the NFL …
10. The Seahawks’, uh, direct snap
Just cutting out the middle man, I guess.
• BISHOP: Seahawks reliving their slow start thanks to offensive-line issues
9. Not how you treat the birthday boy
Carson Palmer celebrated his 36th birthday Sunday by helping his Cardinals rout Green Bay, thereby claiming a first-round bye. So, that was good for him.
This ... not so much:
Also this, from Green Bay’s Clay Matthews:
That’s no way to treat your elders, Clay.
8. That coin toss
Now that we fully know what happened, it sort of makes sense—the Patriots wanted to kickoff toward a specific end of the field in overtime, but in declaring the former they sacrificed their ability to choose the latter. Still, the whole scenario paving the way for a critical victory for the Jets was about as bizarre as they come.
The game’s result held huge ramifications in the AFC playoff picture, too, so this could be one we’re talking about for awhile.
• BANKS: Panthers’ first loss of the season may be just what they needed
7. Blake Bortles ... oof
The Jaguars were more competitive this season and their offense could be explosive in 2016. But they’re also 5–10 and will finish below .500 for the fifth straight year, so this play Sunday still sums the situation up well:
6. Kirk Cousins runs out the clock
Cousins can do little wrong of late—just ask the Washington fans who mobbed his car early Sunday morning to celebrate the team’s division title. He definitely got this one wrong, however ...
When asked what went wrong on the play, Redskins coach Jay Gruden told the NFL Network, “We were going to throw a fade to Pierre Garcon ... I don’t know why Kirk took a knee, I’ll have to find out at halftime.”
• KAPLAN: Against all odds, Redskins win NFC East title
5. Travis Swanson spaces out
A lot of snap mishaps this week ...
Photoshop was not used there in any way.
Detroit’s center simply did not snap the ball when everyone else expected him to, then held the post long past when the play had been blown dead. Were the fumblerooski still legal, the Lions might have been onto something here.
4. The lights go out on Chip Kelly
Blake Bortles taking a snap to the groin was a decent visual representation of Jacksonville’s season. I challenge you to find a better example for Philadelphia than this, from Saturday night’s postgame press conference:
• FARRAR: Cardinals’ rout amplifies concerns about the Packers
3. Johnny Hekker gets in over his head
The Rams’ punter sent an unaware Cliff Avril flying after a punt Sunday, but Hekker may not have been ready for the fallout ...
The “pick on someone your own size” adage works both ways.
2. Mitchell Schwartz is not a receiver
Johnny Manziel rushed for 108 yards Sunday, many of them coming as he scrambled out of trouble, and the Browns nearly pulled off an upset in Kansas City. The following play also happened:
During the Week 15 Thursday nighter, Dallas’s Matt Cassel was called for intentional grounding on an interception. Manziel drew a flag on the above attempt, as well, because there was not an eligible receiver in the area. Schwartz, Cleveland’s right tackle, was an ineligible receiver and the refs flagged him as such.
Schwartz’s brother, Geoff, also an NFL lineman, wasn’t too impressed with the yards-after-catch effort.
• Complete coverage of NFL Week 16: News, highlights, injuries, more
1. The death of “dabbing”
The celebration made famous by Cam Newton has taken over the league this season. It may have lost some (or all) of its swag Sunday. Where to begin, where to begin ...
How about with Don Shula?
Or maybe with Atlanta owner Arthur Blank, who broke out the move after his team ended the Panthers’ perfect season?
What else ya got for us, rich white people? Oh, good, 90-year-old Martha Ford, getting a lesson from Golden Tate:
The “best” of the unnecessary dabs came courtesy of Andy Reid, who let loose after his Chiefs clinched a playoff spot Sunday.
So, that should just about do it. RIP, dabbing (2015–’15).
