Broncos have punt blocked but keep ball following bizarre Cowboys touch

Everything went the Denver Broncos' way in Week 9. Including a punt play you don't see every day.

Leading 16-0 against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, the Broncos appeared to be facing their first big adversity of the day when the Cowboys blocked a punt with Denver backed way up in its own end of the field.

Sam Martin's punt was blocked by Dallas' Malik Turner on fourth-and-14. Then Denver's Jonas Griffith grabbed the ball and advanced it a few yards. It was well short of a first down, and it appeared to be Dallas' ball at the Denver 19-yard line.

The problem? A Cowboys player touched the blocked punt just a hair past the line of scrimmage before it ended up in the hands of Griffith. That essentially ended up as a muffed punt return, believe it or not.

The result? Denver kept the ball. Amazing.

And it was a huge play. Not only did it take Dallas out of a clear scoring chance, but the Broncos earned a first down, drove all the way downfield and converted a field goal to make it 19-0 and a three-score lead in what. would end up a Broncos laugher.

If this was blackjack, it would be like hitting on 20 and receiving an ace — we'd subsequently recommend the player leave the table immediately. They wouldn't get a better break than that.

But it's football, so the Broncos can't just walk away from their big winnings before game's end. No matter. They went on to roll to a dominant 30-16 victory over the Cowboys.

The only similar play we can remember off the tops of our heads would also involve the Cowboys. Remember Leon Lett's muff following a blocked field goal on Thanksgiving against the Miami Dolphins? This one wasn't quite as disastrous as that, but it's the closest that came to mind.