The Tennessee Titans lost to the Cleveland Browns on a walk-off field goal as time expired. Defensive back Joshua Williams committed an egregious offsides penalty on the penultimate play of the game.
He was accused of betting on the game, presumably against his own team, because of how early he jumped.
However, real NFL ball-knowers understand exactly what Williams was trying to do. It was a high-IQ football play!
Tennessee Titans defensive back Josh Williams was very offsides.
Sunday’s game between the Titans and the Browns came down to the final play of the game. Tennessee drove 63 yards on 11 plays in three minutes and 36 seconds to tie the score at 24. However, there were still 58 seconds left on the clock.
Cleveland took over at its own 31-yard-line. It drove 55 yards on three quick passes.
- 6-yard pass to Denzel Boston
- 8-yard pass to Dylan Sampson
- 36-yard pass to Harold Fannin
That set up 1st-and-10 from the 45-yard-line. The Browns took the clock down to three seconds and called a timeout.
Out came the field goal unit. A make would win the game. A miss would send the game to overtime.
As Andre Szmyt started to line up for the 32-yard attempt, Josh Williams came flying across the line of scrimmage. He was not even close to timing the snap. It was the most offsides a player has ever been so the officials threw a flag. Five-yard penalty.
Dude on Tennessee definitely betting 😠pic.twitter.com/AL2aH4zHjL
— NFL Memes (@NFLMemes) October 25, 2026
Williams was immediately accused of gambling on the internet.
“THERE IS NO BETTING ON SPORTS BY PLAYERS OF ANY KIND. Uhhhhhhhhhhhh…….”
“Dude on Tennessee definitely betting 😔
You know how it goes. Surely he couldn’t be that offsides unless he was trying to throw the game, right?
Wrong! It was a high-IQ play!
There are a few different things that Williams could’ve been trying to do here. Given the amount of timeouts remaining, there is one most likely scenario.
It is possible that head coach Robert Saleh told the defensive back to jump offsides in an attempt to ice the kicker. However, Szmyt had not yet set up for the kick so probably not. And the Titans had three timeouts so Saleh could’ve called a timeout.
Real ball-knowers know exactly what Williams was trying to do.
Szmyt is a right-footed kicker. He was kicking from the right hashmark. It is much easier for a right-footed kicker to kick from the left hashmark. The right hashmark creates a sharper angle to the goalpost and the kicker must put more curve on the ball to get it through the uprights.
Williams jumped offside to make the angle even more difficult. A 32-yard field goal is all-but guaranteed in the NFL. Moving it closer to the field goal creates a more challenging kick. Jumping offsides moves the ball five yards closer to the goalposts!