drop the ball

An allusion to the rules of such games as baseball, American football or cricket wherein literally dropping the ball would be a mistake.

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drop the ball (third-person singular simple present drops the ball, present participle dropping the ball, simple past and past participle dropped the ball)

1. (idiomatic) To fail in one's responsibilities or duties, or to make a mistake, especially at a critical point or when the result is very negative.
   • 1996 Dec. 13, Peter Stack, "Tom and ‘Jerry’ Make a Great Team" (film review of Jerry Maguire), San Francisco Chronicle (retrieved 21 Sept 2013):

     The movie ought to sputter out here, but Crowe and Cruise don't drop the ball.

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see drop,‎ ball.

• fall on one's face, fuck up (vulgar), screw the pooch

• fumble
• take one's eye off the ball

• “drop the ball” in the Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.