Late in the third quarter of Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders, Denver Broncos center Luke Wattenberg and rookie quarterback Bo Nix were clearly not on the same page before a second-down snap.
Nix lined up in shotgun, but Wattenberg must have thought the quarterback was under center because when he snapped the ball, he snapped it directly into himself, expecting Nix to be there.
The resulting snap quickly went viral on social media:
Maybe the greatest BLOP of all time. Thank you for the win & for the BLOP Broncos pic.twitter.com/fWrD7O1h2N
— ThatsGoodSports (@BrandonPerna) October 6, 2024
Fortunately, Nix recovered the ball and the Broncos went on to win 34-18.
Former college quarterback and coach Mike Sanford, who now works for 9News, speculated that Wattenberg’s botched snap is what led to Nix’s heated moment with coach Sean Payton on the sideline.
“My Take: The Heated Exchange between Bo Nix & Sean Payton was based on this Play…not the absolute Dime that he uncorked to Troy Franklin,” Sanford wrote on his Twitter/X page on Monday morning.
Payton and Nix indicated after the game that the sideline exchange happened after the quarterback flipped a play that Payton did not want to be flipped.
As for Wattenberg, injury was added to embarrassment later in the game when he left with an ankle injury and Alex Forsyth played the final 10 snaps at center against the Raiders.
We’ll see if Wattenberg recovers in time to face the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 6.
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