It's Week 3 of the NFL's 2022 regular season and teams are getting awfully sophisticated about their postgame social media trolling.
The phrase "hold this L" is one of the more to-the-point and timeless things you can say to another team. It's simple, but in its simplicity lies a deeply effective ability to shut down any protestations from the losing side. Oh, you think the referees were against you? Hold this L. Too many injuries on your team's side of the field? Hold this L. Sun was in your eyes? Hold this L. It just brings everything back to the fact that, despite any rationalizations to the contrary, you lost the game and now must carry this L in the scorebooks, forever.
Of course, you don't have to simply stop there. L-holding can come in a number of creatively infuriating variants. An L can be delivered to you. It can be written on your home field. The possibilities are endless. Two of Week 3's winning squads went that extra mile on social media, and we salute them for it.
Here are some of the best trolls from Week 3.
Philadelphia Eagles 24, Washington Commanders 8
The Eagles needed exactly one quarter -- the second, in which they scored all of their points -- to hand the Commanders this particular L. Jalen Hurts added a little insult to injury after the game, saying FedEx Field felt, well, friendly.
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 25, 2022
"It felt like a home game." -@JalenHurts on the Eagles fans that took the trip to Fedex field.#PHIvsWAS | #EaglesEverywhere | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/7osYvJeTQZ
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 25, 2022
Cincinnati Bengals 27, New York Jets 12
We're always down for a troll that includes mascots in exceedingly unlikely scenarios. How is this Bengal tiger blocking this jet from taking off? No matter. The image gets the point across.
Cleared for takeoff 😏 pic.twitter.com/46RdOo7kHg
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) September 25, 2022
Atlanta Falcons 27, Seattle Seahawks 23
The Falcons won a close one against the Seahawks, but the real story was a mysterious drone lurking overhead that delayed the game. Atlanta's social media team seemed to know what was up.
We were wondering what that was... pic.twitter.com/z7siqtrWlU
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) September 25, 2022
Jacksonville Jaguars 38, Los Angeles Chargers 10
Folks, the Jaguars have arrived with this dominating performance. Their postgame Twitter trolling was a masterful combination of understatement with a dig at the Chargers' move from San Diego to Los Angeles.
Y'all got a charger we could borrow?#JAXvsLAC | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/fOUePr4x9j
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) September 25, 2022
Boy, that escalated quickly. #JAXvsLAC | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/zcUOcKKbUQ
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) September 25, 2022
Cleveland Browns 29, Pittsburgh Steelers 17
Oh, speaking of holding L's? This is an especially brutal variant.
gotta love same day delivery, @steelers pic.twitter.com/V6oeNMpE7Q
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) September 23, 2022