Miami Dolphins cornerback Tony Lippett tried to make a big play on a field goal block, but instead ended up with a football folly.
The Miami Dolphins did not have much go their way in the first three quarters of their AFC Wild Card Playoff against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown were absolutely torching the defense and their offense couldn’t finish any drives well enough at all. Late in the third quarter, though, the Dolphins seemingly held Pittsburgh out of the end zone. Thus, the Steelers lined up for a short field goal, rather than going for another six points.
As it turned out, they got another chance at six points any way, thanks to a horrible—yet hilarious—gaffe by Dolphins cornerback Tony Lippett.
Playing on special teams, the 24-year-old Lippett was clearly keen on trying to make a big play to maybe spark a big comeback. He then made up his mind that he was going to attempt to jump the center to get into the backfield and block the field goal. Lippett made his run and cleanly went right over the snapper to get right in front of the kicker. The problem, however, was that the ball had not yet been snapped when he made his leap over the line of scrimmage and the Steelers line:
Encroachment. #MIAvsPIT pic.twitter.com/oVTYwq8TtK
— NFL (@NFL) January 8, 2017
Just a tad early there.
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While hilarious, that folly from Lippett was actually quite costly for the Dolphins at that point. They trailed just 23-6 at that point and still could’ve conceivably made plays to come back. But Lippett’s encroachment penalty came on fourth-and-3, thus giving the Steelers the first down. Subsequently, Le’Veon Bell capitalized on new life with a touchdown run to go up 30-6 and, effectively, push the game out of Miami’s reach.
Nice ups, though.