Top Plays of 2012: The Dan Herron not-blocked punt block

It was a good start.

Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap stripped the football out of Jeremy Maclin's hands during a bubble screen during the Philadelphia Eagles second play from scrimmage. BenJarvus Green-Ellis led the offense on a 44-yard drive over six plays (five runs by Green-Ellis), giving Cincinnati a 7-0 lead with 11:13 remaining in the first quarter.

Philadelphia's offense returned to the field, but failed to gain a first down, bringing the punt team out on fourth and three from the Eagles 32-yard line with ten minutes remaining in the first.

Take note of Boom.

Herron sprints off the edge with Marvin McNutt, taking his time sliding out to make the block. This allowed Herron to gain superior position over McNutt because McNutt had no foundation to draw strength from.

Instead of fighting around the block, Herron drove the blocker into the punter, Mat McBriar, who crushed the football into his own man.

Herron immediately tracked and recovered the football, returning it to the Eagles 11-yard line. Unfortunately a second-down sack on Andy Dalton eventually led to a Josh Brown 24-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead.