Kansas CIty Chiefs Baltimore Ravens

A suspicious  video has appeared on social media that appears to show the Kansas City Chiefs might have gotten away with an illegal timeout in their win against the Baltimore Ravens. The timeout saved the Chiefs from potentially giving up a touchdown late in the first half.

The Kansas City Chiefs called a questionable timeout

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With nine seconds to go in the second quarter and Baltimore threatening at the Kansas City seven-yard line, Chiefs’ defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo didn’t like what he saw on the field after calling his defense and frantically called a timeout to stop the play.


The officials granted the Chiefs a timeout. The defense was able to hold the Ravens to a field goal.

There’s one problem with Spagnuolo calling a timeout, he’s not the Chiefs’ head coach. Per NFL rules, only head coaches and players are permitted to call timeout.

NBC television cameras showed Spagnuolo calling a timeout. It’s unclear if Chiefs head coach Andy Reid called out a timeout before Spagnuolo did.

The video of Spagnuolo calling the timeout went viral on social media.

Did Andy Reid call a timeout first?

Kansas City Chiefs, Andy Reid

Per Sam McDowell with the Kansas City Star, the video circulating online doesn’t show the full story. McDowell claims Reid called the timeout before Spagnuolo did:

“This video doesn’t provide the full context. Andy Reid called timeout first. The judge at the back pylon noticed Reid, and gave it to him. Spags didn’t spot that, and because the near ref had not seen Reid’s TO, Spags raced in, as seen here. But timeout had already been granted”

Baltimore Ravens fans called the game “rigged”

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Regardless of whether Reid called the timeout first, the official near Spagnuolo appeared to be willing to grant the Chiefs’ defensive coordinator a timeout.


Here are the best takes on social media of fans calling the game rigged after the suspicious video popped up.