With a ton of options from which to choose, figuring out which NFL playoff game actually is the definitive worst is a difficult task, especially since this year’s Bills-Jags game enthusiastically stormed into the conversation. Ultimately, though, the title goes to the Panthers-Cardinals matchup from January 2015 (so the 2014 regular season squads squaring off).
Starting Cardinals QB Carson Palmer (and his backup, Drew Stanton) were both out for the season with knee injuries, so Arizona had to turn to third-stringer Ryan Lindley vs. the 7-8-1 Panthers, who were able to sneak into the postseason, despite both that record and the fact that they went a large swath of the season without winning.
On top of a particularly unattractive offensive matchup, early 2015 was an especially depressing time for pop culture, with magazines, TV, and internet content racing to impress the glazed-over masses with increasingly dumb content.
Everything on and off the field was a mess, so let’s just try our best to enjoy it and never speak of any of this again.