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In American football, the butt fumble was an infamous play that occurred in a game between the New York Jets and New England Patriots on Thanksgiving, November 22, 2012. In front of a New York home crowd of 79,000 at MetLife Stadium and a primetime television audience of 20 million, Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez collided with the backside of his teammate Brandon Moore and fumbled the ball, which was recovered by the Patriots' Steve Gregory and returned for a touchdown. The play was the centerpiece of a disastrous sequence in the second quarter, as the Jets lost three fumbles and the Patriots scored three touchdowns—one each on offense, defense, and special teams—all in the span of 52 seconds of game time; in that quarter, the Jets held the ball for over 12 minutes (out of 15), but were outscored 35–3. The game and the so-called "butt fumble" in particular are remembered as the low point of the Jets' 2012 season. The butt fumble was ranked as the most embarrassing moment in Jets history by ESPN. ==Background== The game was the 108th career meeting between the two clubs and third at MetLife Stadium. After a Week 11 victory at the St. Louis Rams, the Jets returned home with a 4–6 record. The Patriots had defeated the Indianapolis Colts in Week 11, entering the game with a 7–3 record. The game was the last of the day's three Thanksgiving Day games. It was broadcast on the NBC television network, kicking off at 8:20 p.m. EST. After six years of the third Thanksgiving game being exclusive to NFL Network and broadcast stations in each team's local market, it was the first broadcast of a primetime Thanksgiving game on a broadcast network in the NFL's history, and NBC expected viewership ratings to rival those of the playoffs. A 30-second advertisement during the game cost $975,000, nearly double the price for a spot on Sunday Night Football, which was the #1 regularly-scheduled program on TV. A scoreless first quarter ended with the Patriots driving to the Jets' 3-yard line. The second quarter began with a touchdown pass from Tom Brady to Wes Welker. The Jets answered with a drive to New England's 31-yard line, where a disastrous sequence of plays began. On a 4th down with inches to go, Jets running back Shonn Greene rushed up the middle and was tackled short of the first-down marker by Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes, who forced a fumble by knocking the ball out of Greene's hands. The ball was recovered by Patriots safety Steve Gregory at the Patriots' 17-yard line, for a loss of 14 yards.〔On fourth downs, only the offensive player who fumbles the ball can advance the ball beyond the spot of the fumble. Therefore, if any Jet other than Greene had touched the fumbled ball, it would have been ruled a dead ball at the spot of the fumble, and the Jets would turn the ball over on downs.〕 The Patriots scored on the next play, as running back Shane Vereen ran a wheel route out of the backfield to the left, beating Jets linebacker Bart Scott in man-to-man coverage. Scott was lined up too far inside, and a screen from Welker prevented Scott from reaching Vereen. Vereen caught Brady's pass around the Patriots' 25-yard line, and Vereen sprinted down the sideline for an 83-yard touchdown. After a touchback, the Jets' next possession began with an 11-yard completion from Sanchez to Clyde Gates. With 9:10 remaining in the second quarter, the Jets had a 1st and 10 at their own 31-yard line.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Butt fumble」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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