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These football questions stumped all three 'Jeopardy' contestants

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Watching “Jeopardy” can sometimes make you feel really stupid. There you are, sitting on your couch, being stumped over and over again by categories like “19th Century Statues” or “Silent Film Stars” while the contestants are confidently buzzing in.

Well, if you have been eagerly awaiting a category to bring those “Jeopardy” contestants down to our level, I’m about to make you very happy. Because last week, an episode aired in which all three contestants were faced with a category full of football questions. The result? “What is a dumpster fire?”

The three contestants were not able to answer a single clue. Nobody even buzzed in. They just stared at host Alex Trebek as if he were speaking some sort of weird alien language.

Here are the clues. How many can you answer correctly?

Clue 1 for $200:

Your choice: Do or don’t name this plan in which the QB runs the ball and can choose to pitch it to another back.

Clue 2 for $400:

Tom Landry perfected the shotgun formation with this team.

Clue 3 for $600:

By signaling for one of these, a returner can reel in a kick without fear of getting tackled.

Clue 4 for $800:

These “penalties” are simultaneous violations by the offense and defense that cancel each other out.

Clue 5 for $1,000:

As Minneapolis’s US Bank Stadium prepares to host Super Bowl LII, I’m looking at the Ring of Honor, with names from this defensive line that took the Vikings to four Super Bowls.

How many can you answercorrectly

Are you ready for the answers?

Scroll down . . .

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Answer to clue #1: Option play

Answer to clue #2: Dallas Cowboys

Answer to clue #3: Fair catch

Answer to clue #4: Offsetting penalties

Answer to clue #5: Purple People Eaters

It was clear that the three contestants were of the “yay, SPORTSBALL!” sect because some of the questions were not terribly hard, even for moderate football fans.

Nobody knew what an option play was. They had never heard of Tom Landry. None of them were aware of the fair catch rule. They didn’t know what offsetting penalties were. And they definitely did not know who the Purple People Eaters were.

“If you guys ring in and get this one, I will die,” said Trebek, who was at the top of his game mocking the three contestants as they were forced to trudge through the clues, resigned to their fate as Trebek roasted them from his podium.

“I can tell you guys are big football fans,” Trebek said sarcastically, before saying “Do you think we should go to commercial?” He even opened the final clue “just for fun,” knowing at that point it was an exercise in futility. Frankly, the segment resembled something more like Saturday Night Live’s “Celebrity Jeopardy” skits than an actual quiz show involving highly intelligent people.

The internet has had fun with this, especially with that big game thingy that happened this weekend. Even one of the contestants had a little fun with it:

 

 

Of course, sports have always been a bit of a tripping point for “Jeopardy” contestants. Here are 5 sports-related Jeopardy fails:

Oh well. Hey, don’t feel too bad, “Jeopardy”! Other game shows have been doing this to people for years.

[H/t Today]

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