We graded the best big-play celebrations by the Patriots and around the NFL

FOXBOROUGH — Please make sure you’re sitting down, everyone. It’s time for some serious journalism.

Last season, the NFL finally allowed players a little more leeway to celebrate big plays, and the players didn’t disappoint. Now, there’s nary a touchdown, sack, or interception that isn’t followed by some kind of dance or choreographed moment.

Even the Patriots, who last year were a little slow getting in on the fun for fear of punishment from up on hooded high, have had some great ones this year.

“The thing is, you know, kind of with Bill, it can’t be too long,’’ said cornerback Eric Rowe. “It’s got to be hit, to the point, quick, then you’re on to the next thing. We’ve seen other teams, they go a whole 15 seconds. We can’t do that. It’s got to be like, play happens, we’ve got to already know, boom, we do it, then go to the sideline. Other teams line up, like the sack of potatoes race [the Chiefs did last year], that was pretty cool but I don’t think we can do that one.’’

But after a year of these things, not all celebrations are worth celebrating. We asked around the Patriots locker room to figure out how these things are planned, and to get the player perspective on what makes a good celebration, and ultimately came up with a grading system. Eat your heart out, Spotlight.

It’s pretty simple. A celebration can earn a maximum of 10 points. A maximum of 4 points can be awarded for the idea behind the celebration, another 4 for the execution, and the remaining 2 awarded based on whether or not it was an appropriate time to celebrate.

Hint: Celebrating an interception while losing by 14 points, as the Colts did against the Patriots, won’t earn you a good situation score.

“You can’t be losing and doing a dance,’’ said Rowe.

Both individual and group celebrations are eligible, though as far as we’re concerned, group celebrations generally deserve better scores given their higher degree of difficulty. It’s worth noting this was a matter of some debate among the players polled. The Patriots’ defense tends to do group celebrations, while offensive players have individual celebrations a la the Gronk spike or James White’s Kodak Bop dance in the end zone.

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(Brady was spotted practicing this dance at a recent practice and, though White said he has a lot of work to do toward perfecting it, the two of them executing it together would earn a high score.)

“We’re just trying to keep up with the offense because they’ve got the Gronk spike, the legendary Gronk spike,’’ said defensive end Deatrich Wise. “Everybody knows Sweet Feet’s [White’s] dance moves, we had Cook Cook [Brandin Cooks] last year with his little arrows, so we’re just trying to stay afloat, keep up our end of the bargain.’’

Rowe, though, said it’s group celebrations that are “elite.’’

The best Patriots celebration to date was Patrick Chung’s Karate Kid kick (with Duron Harmon in the Johnny Lawrence role), performed after he intercepted Andrew Luck just before halftime in Week 5.

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The idea is very good, something Chung and Harmon had discussed doing in the locker room before the game. One of them needed to make a big play to get to do it, so they couldn’t be positive it would happen, but the plan was if they did, the person who made the play got to be Mr. Miyagi.

“They didn’t even tell anybody about it,’’ cornerback Jason McCourty said. “It was just them two.’’

It gets three out of four possible points for the idea, with the only deduction due to the fact that there have been a lot of karate-based celebrations around the league.

The execution gets a perfect four out of four. It’s quick, clear what they’re doing, and Harmon’s wobble and full commitment to the fall is particularly impressive, especially since it happened with no real practice.

“As soon as Chung got the pick he looked up and was trying to find me, and I was coming from the back trying to find him,’’ Harmon said. “We didn’t even rehearse, it was off of the top of the dome, and it was a great time.’’

The situation gets one out of two possible points. The Patriots’ lead (21-3 at the time) is larger than the ideal time for celebration, though it’s still fair game since it’s still close enough it would have been meaningful if the Colts had scored going into halftime. This is a tricky thing to judge, and almost veers into silly unwritten-rules territory.

“I don’t even think it can be a tight game,’’ Rowe said. “If we’re going neck and neck, nah. We’ve got to be clearly ahead.

“There’s got to be a spot. If you’re blowing a team out, especially if it’s in the end of game, you’re rubbing it in. If it’s in the middle, you’ve got the momentum shift, you made a play, then boom, hit the dance, that’s like, oh, that’s tight.’’

Final score for the Chung Fu kick: 8/10.

The other Patriots celebration that bears mentioning is Kyle Van Noy’s “Salt Bae’’ celebration. He has done this after sacks and other big plays going back to last year and including his fumble recovery against the Dolphins. For those not familiar with Salt Bae, it’s an Internet meme of Nusret Gökçe, a Turkish chef who owns a chain of steakhouses, lovingly sprinkling salt on a steak. I cannot believe I’m getting paid to write this.

“That’s just a little something we do,’’ mysteriously, was all Van Noy would say as to the origin of the Salt Bae celebration. A twinkle in his eye, as well as the hashtag #saltbae on an Instagram caption after the Dolphins game.

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Anyway, Salt Bae gets a perfect 4/4 for the idea, which is hilarious and creative. Execution-wise, it’s a 2/4 because, though Van Noy is a great sprinkler, it was not immediately clear what on earth he’s been doing and because, at times, the celebration has been coupled with a dance from Fortnite. Just do one thing.

The situation, keeping the shutout up 10-0 midway through the second quarter, is a good one in which to celebrate. Final score: 8/10, matching the karate kick for the Patriots high water mark in celebrations this year. We could be bribed into bumping the score if Van Noy would explain himself fully.

Let’s go rapid fire with some of the more memorable celebrations around the league this year and apply the grading system.

JuJu Smith-Schuster gives birth to football

This is weird, but pretty good. It gets 3/4 idea points – is JuJu paying homage to Pittsburgh as the birthplace of football? – and 3/4 execution points.

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The way he rocks the newborn football is great, but there’s a weird side to side movement going on that makes us think Smith-Schuster isn’t too familiar with childbirth. The celebration gets 1/2 situation points. Going up 12-0 against the Falcons in the first quarter is an appropriate time to celebrate, but the situation doesn’t have enough juice to add anything. Final score: 7/10.

Tajae Sharpe goes bowling

This is a great one. It’s only a 1/4 for the idea, since the Eagles did it last year, but gets a point because Sharpe had the idea to do the celebration when the Titans were playing . . . the Eagles. Savage.

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The execution is phenomenal, a 4/4, he clearly had full buy-in from his teammates. It would be fair to dock a point based on the situation since the Titans were only going up 19-17 with 5:01 left in the fourth quarter, but they’re getting a full 2/2 because they used a team’s own celebration against them. Final score: 7/10.

Chiefs tip drill

This is a good idea, though nothing spectacular, a 2/4.

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The execution is very good in the beginning, gets a little worse toward the end, but recovers with a good finishing spike, so it gets a 3/4. Celebrating up 20-0 isn’t totally necessary, but this was against the Jaguars, who dish it out and should be able to take it. 2/2. Final score: 7/10.

Golden Tate shotguns a football

This is a good idea. It’s an easy one, but someone had to show the kids how to party, so it gets a 3/4.

Only 2/4 for the execution, because, come on, bro. No one shotguns a beer while holding it from both ends. Tate did this after scoring a go-ahead touchdown (pending PAT) in the fourth quarter against the Cowboys which is cool, but then the Lions lost, so it’s only a 1/2 here. Final score: 6/10.

Alex Collins’s Irish dance

Collins and the Ravens have done this a few times.

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Here, he does it after going up 13-0 against the Steelers midway through the first quarter of a game. Love the idea, a 4/4. After consulting with Globe columnist/certified Irish dance instructor Tara Sullivan, the execution is a 3/4. “Though I might like to see his feet crossed more or toes pointed a bit sharper — this dance is excellent,’’ Sullivan said. “Great posture, outstanding lift on his jump, and a thoroughly impressive spin.’’ This gets a 2/2 for the situation. It’s early, but a fast start against a division rival should be celebrated. Final score: 9/10.

Albert Wilson and Jakeem Grant high-five going to the house

This gets a perfect score. The idea of a high-five is nothing special, but it takes chutzpah to decide to do one before you get in the end zone.

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Execution is perfect, and requires Grant to catch up to Wilson, which none of the Raiders, notably, were able to do. The touchdown put the Dolphins up, 27-17, before the extra point late in the fourth quarter. Perfect time to celebrate. Final score: 10/10.