Ghost tackles and ill-time celebrations: in the NFL, silly mistakes doom teams

On Sunday, we saw how small mistakes can decide a game in a league as competitive and intricately choreographed as the NFL

There is a reason why they don't call American football the beautiful game." It can be poetic, for sure, but often NFL games are decided by flat-out ugly mistakes. Successful NFL play-calling requires pinpoint execution by every player on the field and a single slip-up can lead to disaster. We saw several such cases on Sunday.

Let's start with the Carolina Panthers, who were a successful extra-point attempt away from beating the Atlanta Falcons. PJ Walker had connected with DJ Moore on a 62-yard Hail Mary pass that no less of an expert than Patrick Mahomes called the best throw of the year." The game was tied and there were just 12 seconds left on the clock.