Chiefs Get Away With Fraudulent Timeout Ahead of Important Ravens Red Zone Play

Stephen Douglas | Sep 5, 2024

Andy Reid and Steve Spagnuolo explain the timeout situation. /

The Kansas City Chiefs continue to do innovative things that the NFL has never seen before.

While fans wait for Patrick Mahomes to throw a behind-the-back pass in a regular-season game, they were treated to something else that no one has ever seen in an NFL game—an assistant coach called a timeout.

There was some confusion late in the second quarter, as the Baltimore Ravens started to run their field-goal unit out before deciding to give Lamar Jackson and the offense one more shot at the end zone. During the confusion, the Chiefs' defense was caught off guard, and Kansas City needed a timeout. Enter defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who sprinted down the sideline to call the timeout.

The problem is, according to the NFL rulebook, only the head coach can call a timeout. Spagnuolo apologized and laughed, and he was granted the timeout with the Chiefs somehow avoiding a penalty.

Refs let assistant coach Steve Spagnuolo call a timeout instead of HC Andy Reid... #BALvsKC pic.twitter.com/TmCRdZzApt

— Rate the Refs App (@Rate_the_Refs) September 6, 2024

Anyone sick of the Chiefs, who have won back-to-back Super Bowls, could be forgiven for complaining about Kansas City getting away with one here. The good news is that the Ravens still ended up making a field goal to cut the lead to three at halftime.

The bad news is that the Chiefs have found another guy who can do it all.