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Week 12 provided plenty of peculiar plays on, off the field

Take a look at each in-depth breakdown and then vote for your favorite nuttiest play of Week 12 at the bottom of the right column.

From special sack artist to special-teamer

The situation: The Vikings' regular long snapper -- Cullen Loeffler -- suffered an injury early in his team's game against the Falcons.

Things got a bit nutty when ... Loeffler was replaced by defensive end Jared Allen on kicks. Allen performed his first snap with 2:20 left in the first half, executed it perfectly, and then made the special-teams tackle on Falcons return specialist Eric Weems.


An NFL sideline can be a dangerous place

The situation: Down 16-10 to the visiting Dolphins, the Cowboys are driving down the field. With 14:59 left in the game, Dallas faces a third-and-3 situation from Miami's 23-yard line.

Things got a bit nutty when ...Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo hits tight end Jason Witten on a crossing pattern for a gain of five yards. Witten gets ridden out of bounds by Dolphins linebacker Marvin Mitchell, and runs into a cheerleader. CBS analyst Phil Simms doesn't miss a beat, carefully breaking down the key first down on a drive that ultimately led to a go-ahead touchdown with barely a mention of the sideline collision.


Hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go

The situation: The Broncos have just tied the game at 13-13 with 1:38 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Things got a bit nutty when ... CBS cameras caught Chargers kicker Nick Novak using the sideline as his own personal bathroom. Obviously, Novak didn't want to feel uncomfortable with a potential winning field-goal kick coming at any moment. At the same time, Novak likely didn't think his personal moment would be caught on camera for the nation to see. Well, that happened. What didn't was a last-second winning field goal at the end of regulation. Instead, Novak missed from 53 yards out with 2:36 left in overtime, and the Broncos later got the overtime win.


Bears' chances get grounded

The situation: Down 25-20 with just eight seconds left, the Bears have the ball at their own 46-yard line.

Things got a bit nutty when ...Bears quarterback Caleb Hanie -- who started on Sunday in place of the injured Jay Cutler -- appeared to at first fake a spike play to kill the clock, instead backed up a couple yards and then tossed the ball into the Oakland Coliseum turf. That was ruled intentional grounding, which required the remaining seconds on the game clock to be expired, ending the game with the Raiders as winners.


Epic flop

The situation: Down 10-7 to the Browns with 36 seconds remaining in the first half, the Bengals face a second-and-6 at their own 27-yard line.

Things got a bit nutty when ...Bengals QB Andy Dalton is sacked by Jabaal Sheard. Dalton fumbles and it is recovered by the Browns' Scott Paxson. In the frenzy of the scramble for the loose ball, Bengals receiver Jerome Simpson pulls Browns linebacker Scott Fujita out from under the pile. Fujita then gets up and appears to give Simpson a light shove. Simpson goes all Cristiano Ronaldo on Fujita, launching himself down onto the field in an awesomely bad flop.

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