Opinion question...what was the worst pass in NFL history?

[Bryan]

I was watching some mid-80's weekly recaps, and came across the Packers-Cowboys game of 1984. There is a play where Gary Hogeboom drops back into his own endzone and lobs the ball directly into the hands of Packer DE Robert Brown who is standing like 5 yards away from Hogeboom. It was like a 1-yard INT TD play. One of the dumbest things I've seen, but....while it was a bad pass, it wasn't significant. The Cowboys went on to win the game 20-6 (of course the Packers missed the XP with Freddie Garcia at K), and the INT pretty much is forgotten.

So, my selection for the worst pass in NFL history is...Richard Todd's pick 6 to AJ Duhe in the 1982 AFC Championship game! Here are my reasons:

*At the time of the INT, the Jets were still in the game, trailing 7-0 in the 4th quarter
*Postseason significance with Super Bowl on the line
*Todd had already thrown 4 INTs at this point...protect the ball!
*Todd had already thrown 2 INTs to Duhe at this point...watch out for #77!
*On the INT, Duhe was playing a DE position.
*On reviewing the play, if Duhe wasn't even involved then it appears that Todd's pass would have still been intercepted by LB Ernie Rhone.
*Before Todd releases the pass, Duhe is directly in front of Todd. Todd then soft-tosses the ball into Duhe's hands.

[JuggernautJ]

I am sure if I thought on it long enough I could come up with something equally horrific but my initial response is Theismann's interception to Jack Squirek in Super Bowl XVIII (also a pick six).
That is probably the worst (most consequential) NFL pass that I've seen...

[Brian wolf]

Garo "Roman Gabriel" Yepremian ... Nuff Said

[Brian wolf]

Neil O'Donnell's second interception to Larry Brown in the Cowboy's last SB Championship. Steelers fans have never forgiven him ...

[Brian wolf]

Another terrible pass was the lateral from Daryle Lamonica that was recovered by the Jets in the 1968 AFL Championship game ... You could see that Lamonica knew it was a mistake as soon as it left his hand, because he had expected his halfback Charlie Smith to run up inside of Gerry Philbin's pass rush for a good screen play but Philbin penetrated so quickly, that Smith tried to loop around him instead and the wind got a hold of Lamonica's soft pass ... Daryle had played beautifully up to that point despite only one TD pass ... and for this NBC game broadcast, I will pay top dollar to ANY collector or network employee who is willing to make a 2-3 disc copy for me?
This game is out there ... somewhere.

[Terry Baldshaw]

Russell Wilson's interception at the end of Super Bowl 49. Maybe the play was the worst play call rather than pass. Either way the result was the same.

[Brian wolf]

I knew someone would bring up this play but honestly, I felt the pass was fine but high. However, Lockette didnt go after it aggressively and Butler did instead, thus the interception. Both corners for NE, Revis and former Seahawk Brandon Browner, were outstanding on this play ...

[RichardBak]

Milt Plum's ill-advised third-down pass to Terry Barr in closing minutes of first Detroit-GB matchup of 1962. Game was played at GB. Lions led, 7-6, and just needed a first down to run out the clock. But Barr slipped in the mud, Adderly intercepted and returned it deep into Lions territory, and Hornung went on to kick game-winning FG in Packers' 9-7 victory. Why the hell pass in that situation?? The Lions should've just run Pietrosante and, if they didn't make it, had the best punter in the league in Yale Lary. GB would've gotten the ball deep in their own end w/ just a minute to play and 1 timeout. They hadn't really moved the ball all day on a muddy field against a damned fine Lions D featuring Joe Schmidt, Alex Karras, Roger Brown, Yale Lary, Night Train Lane, Dick LeBeau, et al.

If that loss was flipped, GB would've entered the final weekend with an 11-2 record behind the Lions' 12-1. GB won their finale on the coast while Lions lost to Bears, 3-0. That would've set up a divisional tie-breaker between two 12-2 teams. Who would've won? Well, since GB lost the rematch at Tiger Stadium in that famous Thanksgiving Day wipeout, which would've accounted for their only 2 losses, I'd give the edge to Detroit. OTOH, it's awful tough to beat a team 3 times in the same season, especially when you're talking Lombardi's Packers. It might've just boiled down to venue--Lambeau Field or Tiger Stadium. IIRC a coin flip still decided such matters in 1962.

Plum's interception caused a locker-room rift that lasted years. It ruined Detroit's last best chance to win a title in those pre-playoff days. Those '62 Lions get little respect, but they could've easily finished 14-0. Their 3 losses were by a total of 8 points to the 3 teams who appeared in the '62 and '63 title games: 17-14 to NYG, 9-7 to GB, and 3-0 to Bears.

And speaking of perfection...a young Don Shula was coaching the Lions' D. What might've been if the club hadn't let him go to Baltimore?

[Jay Z]

Russell Wilson's interception at the end of Super Bowl 49. Maybe the play was the worst play call rather than pass. Either way the result was the same.

Red Right 88 is the other one I can think of there. As far as quality of pass, Sipe threw a duck. Probably a bad idea to throw to the same spot in the field where your kicker is having so much trouble. But I don't really disagree with throwing a pass there, Dave Logan was open, the ball should have gone to him. Sure, try a pass, I don't think Cockroft is even 50% to make any sort of kick since he'd already missed all three on that end. So it was an okay play call and Sipe made the wrong read.

Wilson's throw came in a dome where a pass play didn't even have to be called. Plus asking second tier players to execute a key play and your QB to do something not at the top of his skill set. Perhaps unsurprisingly the execution was botched and read by the defense due to lack of confidence in the play call.

Wilson's throw was much worse, but because it wasn't "franchise defining" (Seahawks won the year before) it tends to get a pass.

[Brian wolf]

What do you think Richard ? Did Plum waive off a run-play called by Paul Brown trying to be daring or did Brown call the pass play? I know Plum was fed up running his plays but did Brown allow him some lee-way to change it ?