So, with that in mind, you would could only imagine my joy at Sage Rosenfels' 4th quarter debacle in last Sunday's game. A performance so amazingly poor, it HAS to be viewed as one of the worst in the NFL's history.
Going into Week 5 in the NFL with an 0-3 record is bad enough. In the Huston Texans case, it only got worse. The Saturday night before the game, starting QB Matt Schaub went into hospital with an intestinal infection and was deemed unable to play Sunday's game. Back-up Rosenfels was called upon to make his first start of the 2008 season.
With 4:45 left on the clock in the 4th quarter, the Texans had a 27-10 lead, seemingly insurmountable. Although, as a good friend of mine will most likely tell me, again, is that if anyone can make a 4th quarter comeback, it's Peyton Manning and the Colts, as they did in 2003 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
On that fateful day, the Buccaneers had a 35-14 lead, with just over 5 minutes remaining in the game. Manning, managed to take his team down the field, on 3 consecutive drives, after 2 successful onside kicks, and tie the game with a little over 30 seconds to play. The game went to overtime, in which the Colts managed to win the game on a sudden-death field goal. To make this particular comeback all the more improbable, was that the Bucs were the raining Super Bowl champions, and had the leagues number 1 ranked Defense.
In the case of the Bucs-Colts game, it was an amazing effort by Manning to amount the comeback. On Sunday, in the Texans-Colts game, it wasn't any Manning Magic that won the game, it was more like Rosenfels' Jack-Assery that lost it.
The Colts drove the field and scored a touchdown with 4:04 to play, making the score 27-17 Huston. An onside kick by Indianapolis was recovered by Huston, which meant all they had to do was run down the clock and finish the game, to earn their first victory of the season. Instead, on a 3rd & 8 play, with 3:50 left in the game, Rosenfels runs a naked bootleg and launches himself into the air to attempt to reach a first down. The logical play would be to slide, take some more time off the clock, punt the ball deep to pin the Colts in their own end, and force them to drive the length of the field to score. Clearly, though, logic is not something Rosenfels has ever learned. The ensuing play lead to a fumble recovery for a touchdown by the Colts, to trim the lead to 27-24.
Sage Rosenfels Goes For a Helicopter Ride
After the fumble recovery for TD, the Colts kicked the ball deep and the Texans again had the chance to run out the clock and finish the game, now with a slim 3 point lead. With just 2:45 left, Rosenfels rolls out of the pocket again, this time to pass. While looking downfield, he neglects his backside completely, and loses another fumble, this time, it's recovered on the 20 yard line by the Colts D. Manning takes over again and throws for a touchdown, which proves to be the game winner in a 31-27 Colts victory.
Of all the jackass plays in NFL history, Rosenfels' Helicopter fumble, has to rank among the top 10. But it got me to researching some of the other plays that were questionable to the mental state of several NFLers.
Here are some of the best:
September 15, 2008. Eagles vs. Cowboys. DeSean Jackson thinks he's in the endzone but drops the ball on the 1-yard line, fumbling the ball. Luckily, no one recovers the ball, and the Eagles score 1 play later.
January 6, 2007. Cowboys vs. Seahawks NFC Playoffs. Tony Romo accepts a snap to hold for the a potential game-winning field goal with 1:19 left to play, but fumbles the ball. Seahawks hold on to win 21-20.
December 21, 2003. Saints vs. Jaguars. With a chance to capture a playoff spot, the Saints needed a last second touchdown to tie the game and send it to overtime. A win would have clinched a place in the NFC playoffs. With :07 seconds on the clock, the Saints manage the unthinkable with a 75-yard hook & ladder TD. All Carney has to do is hit the extra point to go to overtime. He misses, losing the game, and eliminating the Saints from the post-season.
January 4, 2004. Seahawks vs. Packers NFC Playoffs. In overtime, QB Matt Hasselback takes the field for the coin toss. He wins the toss and famously says "We want the ball, and we're gonna score". He then throws an interception to Al Harris, which is returned for a touchdown, ending the game.
2 comments:
The Carney moment is what stands out for me, the easiest play in football, and he, almost single-handedly, eliminates his team from the playoffs.
Why do you have to bring up bad memories?
This was definitely a solid article. In my opinion your best one yet(my opinion, of course, means nothing).
The second video in this post has been taken off of youtube.
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