Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson was charged with a different kind of roughing the kicker penalty on Sunday afternoon.
As Denver languished through a 51-14 Christmas Day blowout at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams , a desperate throwaway from the arms of Wilson, trying to avoid a blue-and-yellow pass rush, was sent toward the sidelines. The errant toss landed in the lap of Rams kicker Matt Gay, who was, more than likely, not the intended receiver.
Though it likely laid forgotten in the eyes of a disinterested viewing public ... the hosting Rams led 41-6 by that point in the fourth quarter ... a comically anguished scream from Gay was audibly heard on the CBS broadcast. Social media users were friendly enough to give Gay credit for his acting.
Gay commented on his performance in the aftermath, virtually responding to one accolade by declaring he'd be "going to IR" after his close encounter. While Sunday offered Rams fans a brief holiday furlough from their championship defense gone horribly wrong, some may fail to see the humor in Gay's joke considering the fact that several franchise faces (i.e. Aaron Donald, Cooper Kupp, Matthew Stafford) saw their seasons end early due to placement on the injured reserve.
In his defense, Gay has probably earned himself a free pass or two from the fanbase: he converted all nine of his attempts on Sunday afternoon at SoFi Stadium, booting three field goals and six extra points. Gay's success rate on triples (24-of-26, 92 percent) currently ranks fifth in the NFL entering Week 17 play.
Hopefully, for the Rams, any damage Gay indeed sustained in the unexpected toss heals by Sunday, when Los Angeles engages in a SoFi Stadium civil war against the Los Angeles Chargers (1:25 p.m. PT, CBS).
More must-reads: