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At the tail end of the third quarter, the Colts ran quite possibly the worst fake punt in the history of fake punts. The play -- if we can even call it a play -- made no sense, had roughly a zero percent chance of actually succeeding and resulted in an immediate loss of yardage.

Let me try my best to actually explain it.

Facing a fourth-and-3 from their own 37-yard line, the Colts lined up in a normal punting formation. Just prior to the snap, all but two players suddenly stood up and sprinted to the right sideline. Only two players remained over the football in the middle of the field.

This is what their formation eventually looked like.

Now, let's take a closer look. Snapping the ball? Wide receiver Griff Whalen. Taking the snap from under center? Safety Colt Anderson.

Look, the Patriots appeared to be awfully confused when the Colts first switched formations, mainly because it was an extremely strange formation. But once the Patriots got it sorted out, they realized that they outnumbered the Colts at the line of scrimmage, meaning they basically had a free shot at Anderson, especially since the Colts elected to take the snap from under center.

Surely the Colts weren't going to actually snap the football, right?

Wrong. They snapped the ball. Anderson was tackled almost immediately and the Patriots regained possession of the football. They quickly scored, pushing their lead to 13 points.

After the game, embattled Colts coach Chuck Pagano explained -- or tried to explain -- what Indy was trying to accomplish.

"The whole idea there was on fourth-and-3 or less, shift our alignment to where you either catch them misaligned, they try to sub some people in, catch them with 12 men on the field and if you get a certain look, you can make a play," Pagano said via the Associated Press. "Alignment-wise we weren't lined up correctly, and then a communication problem on the snap. I take responsibility for that."  

Here's the fake punt in its entirety.

Oh yeah, the Colts also got flagged for an illegal formation, which the Patriots declined. So not only was it unsuccessful and strange, but it wasn't even legal!

Really, there is no explanation.

This was not a good idea. (NBC)