Steve Spagnuolo got away with what could be most egregious non-call of NFL season
Just because he's with the Kansas City Chiefs, that doesn't mean that people in New York and New Jersey have forgotten about what Steve Spagnuolo was able to get done with the NY Giants. He helped the team win a Super Bowl during his first stint with the team as defensive coordinator, then he came back for three more years from 2015-2017.
Spags is now in his sixth season with the Chiefs, helping the team win three Super Bowls. He's in primetime to start the new NFL campaign and he's going a bit viral right now. Unfortunately for him, it's not for a good reason. In the first half of the Chiefs showdown with the Ravens, he sprinted down the field to call a timeout because he didn't like the look of his defense.
Nothing to see here, right? Not quite. Spagnuolo is not the head coach, Andy Reid is. Reid is the only person who can call timeout, meaning the TO should have never been given. How in the heck did the former Giants DC get away with this?
NBC rules expert explained that defensive coordinators are not allowed to call timeouts, but the refs recognized it anyway for Steve Spagnuolo
— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) September 6, 2024
NFL refs are already blowing it in the Chiefs vs. Ravens showdown
You can watch the play go down at this link, but we don't have to tell you that people are furious with how this was allowed to slide. The back judge appeared to tell Spagnuolo that he couldn't call a timeout, but he basically just said 'my bad' and walked away. Reid couldn't believe what happened himself.
Still, though, why was there no flag thrown? This wasn't the only gaffe from the officials that had people scratching their heads. What was going on with all of the illegal formation penalties being called on the Ravens offensive line? This was confusing too and new Giants RT Jermaine Eluemunor was not happy seeing all the laundry hit the turf:
It’s not consistent
— Jermaine Eluemunor (@JEluemunor) September 6, 2024
We can always rely on the team in stripes to infuriate fans throughout the course of a campaign, but we just didn't think so many rough calls/brutal decisions would be on display for the start of the regular season. Let's hope they clean things up for the showdown between the Vikings and Giants at MetLife Stadium.
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