There are plenty of bad plays in the NFL on a weekly basis, so it takes something truly abysmal to stand out.
The infamous âbutt fumbleâ incident with former New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez in 2012 is a classic example of a wildly bad quarterback play being remembered for all the wrong reasons.
An incident that occurred during Saturdayâs tilt between the Minnesota Vikings and the Cincinnati Bengals at Cincinnatiâs Paycor Stadium doesnât have a snappy name yet, but itâs got all the makings of an all-time NFL blunder.
The Vikings lost in overtime, 27-24, and a critical moment of the game came right before halftime when Minnesota backup quarterback Nick Mullens threw a pass that turned into what Pro Football Focusâ lead NFL analyst Sam Monson called a candidate for the âworst interceptionâ of all time.
Mullens, instead of taking a sack, inexplicably tossed the ball â right into the hands of lumbering Bengals defensive tackle BJ Hill â genuinely one of the worst turnovers youâll ever see.
Take a look for yourself below:
(It also needs to be pointed out that even if Hill hadnât come up with the ball, Mullens appeared to be blatantly violating the intentional grounding rule, wherein a quarterback is penalized for attempting to escape a sack by throwing the ball to nobody in particular.)
Unsurprisingly, the top comment to Monsonâs scathing X video made reference to the Sanchez âbutt fumbleâ:
âItâs the butt fumble of ,â one X user quipped.
The play swiftly went Viral on social media, with swathes of users piling on Mullens.
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The Ringer NFL pundit and analyst Warren Sharp â a consultant for NFL teams and professional bettors on the league and a man who has watched a lot of professional football â wasnât calling it the worst interception heâs seen. But he did call it one of the funniest.
Hill surely wonât mind this slight dig, having come up with his second career interception (in as many weeks!), but he added to the comedy of it all by briefly looking like a young child who just discovered hand-eye coordination as he tried to come up with the ball.
One X user responded to Sharp by digging the knife in just a little deeper, and wanted Hill to get extra credit on the play:
âCan we make a case for this play to be ruled both a sack and interception?â an X user asked.
As boneheaded of a play as that was for Mullens, the costliness of it was highlighted much later in the game when an incredibly savvy play from Bengals star receiver Tee Higgins scored a touchdown that helped force overtime, where the Bengals eventually won.
The loss gives the Vikings, a team that lost Pro Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins to a torn Achilles tendon in October, a 7-7 record with three games left in the season.
Two of those games are against the NFC North Division-leading Detroit Lions, a team that improved to 10-4 after defeating the Denver Broncos on Saturday.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.