Watch: Chiefs Used a Clever Bit of 'Gamesmanship' During TV Timeouts to Gain an Edge Over the Broncos
The Kansas City Chiefs in the era of superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes have rarely needed extra advantages.
After a dismal 2025 season, however, the Chiefs will take any edge they can get.
For instance, in Monday night’s season opener, a 31-10 drubbing of the rival Denver Broncos, Kansas City’s defense used what ESPN analyst Troy Aikman called “gamesmanship” to confuse the Broncos’ offense during television timeouts and to maintain that confusion until just before Denver snapped the ball.
“There’s been a little gamesmanship during the TV timeout, really throughout the game,” Aikman said on ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast.
Specifically, the Chiefs took advantage of a quirk in the NFL rulebook.
“Whenever there’s been a timeout on the field,” Aikman continued, “Kansas City, they’ll put 13, 15 guys in the huddle and wait for Denver to declare before they’ll — in fact, there went a couple right there running off the field — but they wait until the last possible minute, even once Denver puts their offensive personnel on the field.”
WE HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE:
The #Chiefs defense puts 13 TO 15 PLAYERS in the defensive huddle whenever there is a timeout on the field.
They then wait until the LAST POSSIBLE SECOND to reveal who is actually staying on the field — even after Denver has already…
— MLFootball (@MLFootball) September 15, 2026
As genuine football fans know, each team may only field 11 players at the snap of the ball.
The team on offense, however, cannot even huddle with more than 11 players. After all, offense controls the pace of play. They decide when to snap the ball.
If, for instance, they could huddle with 14 players, three of whom run off the field at the last minute, then they would gain a significant and probably insurmountable advantage over the defense, which could not adjust to the offense’s actual personnel.
The defense, on the other hand, faces no such restrictions.
Rule 5, Section 2, Article 1 of the NFL rulebook governs the number of players permitted in the huddle. That rule reads as follows:
“There can never be more than 11 players in the offensive huddle while the play clock is running. It is a foul, the whistle is blown immediately, and the ball remains dead.”
Note that the rule makes no mention of the defensive huddle. Thus, the legality of Kansas City’s “gamesmanship” seems indisputable.
In any event, the Chiefs certainly did not need whatever edge their “gamesmanship” provided.
Sparked by 173 yards rushing and two touchdowns from running back Kenneth Walker, who won the Super Bowl MVP as a member of the champion Seattle Seahawks in February, Kansas City steamrolled the Broncos, who boasted one of the league’s best defenses en route to a 14-3 record and a season sweep of the Chiefs in 2025.
KENNETH WALKER 60-YARD TD
DENvsKC on ESPN
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/FewiswX7K5— NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2026
K9 CAME TO PLAY TODAY 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ac52sibpw5
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) September 15, 2026
Meanwhile, as Walker ran all over their defense, the Broncos managed a measly 176 total yards of offense.
Did the Chiefs’ “gamesmanship” prove decisive in that respect? Time will tell. After all, we might now reasonably expect other NFL teams to employ the same tactic.
If the tactic succeeds league-wide, then we will see plenty of it — at least until the NFL changes its rulebook.
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