New England Patriots

Remembering the worst play in NFL history, one year later

Published Nov. 15, 2016 1:54 p.m. ET

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Dieter Kurtenbach

The Indianapolis Colts are in a bad spot, sitting in the basement of the AFC South at 2-4 on the season.

But this isn't rock bottom.

This was:

One year ago today, Oct. 18, 2015, the Colts ran the single worst play in NFL history — an attempt at deception that was, in fact, almost impossibly easy to defend. On fourth-and-3 from their own 37-yard line with 1:14 to go in the third quarter, down six to the Patriots, the Colts opted to go deep into the bag of (presumably unvetted) tricks, splitting the entire team out wide and leaving safety Colt Anderson as the quarterback and wide receiver Griff Whalen as the center.

That's it. That was the play.

Was Anderson supposed to throw the ball to the players on the right?

Was it an elaborate ploy to get the Patriots to jump offsides?

Did Whalen have a grudge with Anderson, causing him to snap the ball and ensure a certain pummeling from the two defenders that were going to run past him the second the ball moved?

No one knows. Colts coach Chuck Pagano can be seen saying "why'd you snap that?" after the play, but pay no mind to that moment — it's clearly a cover.  Even if it was successful, it wouldn't have mattered because of the penalty, but ignore that too. And yes, Whalen was the backup option to be center on that play, called into duty after an injury earlier in the game, but that's not important.

Try as you might, you cannot explain away the worst play in NFL history.

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