Every Sunday could be called NFL Comedy Sunday.
During the NFL season, each Sunday is filled with pinpoint passes, highlight-reel catches, dazzling runs, bone-rattling sacks, game-saving tackles, amazing comebacks, game-winning drives, and thrilling finishes.
We are drawn to the game for those moments of euphoria when our favorite team pulls out a victory, and even the soul-crushing defeats that stick with us for a while, but still don’t deter us from coming back for more the following Sunday.
But that’s only part of the appeal. In the heat of competition, there are also the moments of fun and frivolity that show the humor and humanity of those inside the game. With that spirit in mind, we introduce NFL Comedy Sunday — because funny things happen on and off the field when you play a game with a funny-shaped ball.
NFL Comedy Sunday: Fly, Stefon, fly
NFL Comedy Sunday found good fodder from the Bills-Eagles game. At the time Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs might have thought it was quite appropriate to mock the Philadelphia Eagles fans and their affinity for the song, “Fly, Eagles, Fly.” After all, the Bills were leading the Eagles, 17-7, at halftime and seemed to be in total control of the game.
Then again, Diggs might have forgotten that no lead is safe with the Eagles, who trailed at halftime for the fourth consecutive week, yet came back and beat the Bills in overtime, 37-34. The Eagles ended up getting the last laugh.
NFL Comedy Sunday: What a knockout!
NFL Comedy Sunday liked what Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud did after scoring a touchdown on a 1-yard run to give the Texans a 14-13 lead over the Jacksonville Jaguars. At the time, the touchdown was a blow to the Jaguars, but apparently, he wasn’t quite done throwing punches.
NFL Comedy Sunday: The Pacheco dance
NFL Comedy Sunday is a big fan of TD celebrations, which are rather commonplace around the league. Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco decided to get in on the act with an original dance on the second of his two touchdown runs on the day.
Pacheco’s second TD was the first second-half score for the Chiefs in four games. It gave the Chiefs a 21-14 lead in the third quarter, and Kansas City cruised to a 31-17 victory in Las Vegas. There’s no word yet on whether Pacheco, who rushed for 55 yards, attracted enough attention with his dancing skills to earn a moonlighting opportunity somewhere on the Vegas Strip.
NFL Comedy Sunday: RedZone alert!
The NFL Network has owned and operated NFL RedZone since 2009, allowing millions of subscribers to enjoy a slice of every game each week. But Sunday was a first in that an evacuation alarm sounded in the middle of the broadcast, which takes place in a studio at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
Viewers began to fear for host Scott Hanson’s life, but only in jest.
For his part, Hanson was able to power through the broadcast with the alarm still sounding in the background.
Hanson appreciated all the kind gestures from people on social media.
Thankfully, Hanson and the rest of the crew were perfectly safe. And RedZone will survive for at least another week.
NFL Comedy Sunday: ‘It don’t matter’
Going into overtime with the score tied at 31-31, players from the Buffalo Bills and the Philadelphia Eagles met in the middle of the field for another coin flip. Bills receiver Gabe Davis called “heads,” and he was right.
Immediately, he calls for the Bills to receive the kickoff, but the Eagles’ Brandon Graham had the perfect response.
Because the Bills had the ball first, all they had to do was score a touchdown to win the game. And it nearly happened. The Bills drove to the Eagles’ 22-yard line, where they had a third-and-six. Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen was pressured and threw toward the end zone for what looked like a sure touchdown … to Gabe Davis. But Davis didn’t go in the direction Allen thought he would.
The Bills had to settle for field goal instead. But the missed opportunity cost them in the end, because Jalen Hurts capped a nine-play, 75-yard drive with a 12-yard TD scamper that won the game for Philadelphia, 37-34. So, in the end, Graham was right — the coin flip “don’t matter.”
NFL Comedy Sunday: Nothing he can’t catch
Cincinnati Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase is one of the best in the game, capable of catching anything thrown his way. Apparently, that includes mouthguards.
The mouthguard actually didn’t belong to Chase, but to his defender, Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr., yet Chase was able to catch before the mouthguard and the ball — before letting the mouthguard fall to the ground. Chase finished with four catches for 81 yards, but it wasn’t enough in the Bengals’ 16-10 loss to the Steelers, Cincinnati’s third straight defeat.