This weekend in NFL stupid

Week 4 wasn't as stupid as the first three weeks of the NFL season, but we still got a large enough dosage of stupidity to hit the required weekly quota. A breakdown…

The stupidest group of fans

That goes to this silly Jacksonville-based group of Tim Tebow supporters who just won't give up. They wasted a bunch of time and money Sunday by flying this banner over EverBank Field…

The stupidest fourth-quarter everything

This goes to the Texans, whose offense took the field midway through the fourth quarter with a one-score lead against the powerhouse Seahawks and ran three consecutive passing plays before having to punt. They got the ball back after a Russell Wilson interception, ran a few times but then attempted a hilariously stupid passing play on third-and-four with less than three minutes to play. 

That resulted in a game-tying pick six from Richard Sherman.

Now, the play call itself was stupid. But even stupider was Matt Schaub's decision to do anything but take a sack at this moment…

The best part is that head coach Gary Kubiak said afterwards that Schaub had no choice but to run what he admitted was a "very, very poor play."

“Once we called it, started the motion, it was game on," said Kubiak, making no sense. Why can't your veteran quarterback audible? Why can't he call timeout or take a delay-of-game penalty? What a stupid explanation regarding a stupid play. Everyone reading is now stupider having listened to it. I award the Texans no points, and may God have mercy on their souls. 

The stupidest something

I won't call this the stupidest penalty, because some might argue it shouldn't be a penalty (although on paper it was stupid regardless) and I won't call it the stupidest call because some will argue that it was the right call. Regardless, either the officials did something stupid, or Kareem Jackson did.

In overtime of that same Seattle-Houston game, the Texans had Seattle in a third-down situation at midfield, but Jackson body-slammed Doug Baldwin, drawing a flag and an automatic first down. Four plays later, the Seahawks were able to kick the game-winning field goal.

Check out the video here. Baldwin's forward progress had stopped and you could hear a whistle, so the roughness probably was unnecessary. That said, it wasn't too egregious and Jackson could argue that he was just getting the offensive player down. The whistle hadn't been blown long before the infraction. I'm on the fence, because I do believe the officials have to "let them play" a little bit in these big moments, but Jackson probably should have known better. 

Let's just agree that the entire situation was stupid. 

The stupidest attempt to get fancy

This is Geno Smith trying to avoid a sack, or something, by transferring the ball from one hand to another behind his back…

The result, of course, is a fumble recovered by the Titans in the Jets' end zone. 

The stupidest contract of all time

I'd merely like to confirm this week that Joe Flacco's $120.6 million deal is the worst ever. Poor Ravens were victimized by that hot stretch in January. They really had no choice but to pay the man. Unfortunately, he's a below-average quarterback 95 percent of the time.

He was far below average Sunday in Buffalo, throwing five interceptions against a Bills team that was without its top two cornerbacks. Flacco's passer rating this year is now 69.8, which pretty much puts him in a group with Brandon Weeden, Christian Ponder, EJ Manuel Geno Smith. 

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 (covering Super Bowls XLIV, XLV and XLVI), 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 Deadspin, FoxSports.com, The Guardian, The Hockey News and elsewhere at Bloguin, but his day gig has him covering all things NFC East for Bleacher Report.

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