Bobby Rainey Commits Brutal Error on Kickoff Return (Video)

A crucial error by New York Giants returner Bobby Rainey may have cost his team dearly in the NFC Wild Card Playoff.

Playmakers like Aaron Rodgers, Odell Beckham Jr. and so on were all on the field on Sunday evening for the 2017 NFC Wild Card Playoff between the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants. While Rodgers was great, OBJ and the Giants were trying to get any kind of momentum going to make plays in the second half, simply attempting to keep the pace. However, Bobby Rainey made that hard.

Eli Manning capitalized on a bad call by Packers head coach Mike McCarthy to go for it near midfield on fourth down. That was stuffed and the Giants offense came out to strike quickly. In doing so, they pulled the score to 14-13 in favor of Green Bay. However, Rodgers and company answered just as rapidly, ultimately ending with a Randall Cobb touchdown catch. Thus, the Giants were left to receive the ensuing kick and needing to get something going.

Instead, Rainey made a wholly brutal gaffe on the kickoff. With the kick trailing towards the sideline, the Giants returner followed it. Then he did the unthinkable, making the catch deep and then falling out of bounds with his momentum continuing. He did this at the 3-yard line, much to the chagrin of everyone cheering on Big Blue:

It’s one thing to make a dumb error on a kick return; that happens. However, Rainey can’t do this in the playoffs with his team needing to come back to stay alive. That’s unacceptable.

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As you’d expect after being pinned back at their own 3-yard line to start the drive, the Giants couldn’t get anything going. They ended up punting and the Packers got the ball back with great field position. Subsequently, Rainey’s miscue may ultimately go down as the most costly play of the evening.