Chiefs aren't the only AFC West team suffering because of offsides on offense

NFL teams around the league should take notice: Offensive offsides is on the menu.

After refs caused a stir by flagging Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Kadarius Toney for offsides on a thrilling touchdown featuring a Travis Kelce lateral, it became clear in Week 15 that more flags would follow.

On Saturday night, the Denver Broncos also lost a touchdown because of an offensive player being lined up in the neutral zone.

Broncos had TD called back because of offensive offsides like Chiefs

That's right guard Quinn Meinerz whose helmet was in the neutral zone on the play. It might be easy to mistake him for the center because his helmet was furthest forward of anyone on the line. The Broncos had a fourth-down touchdown called back because of it. After being pushed back five yards, they opted to kick a field goal to cut Detroit's lead down to 28-10.

First, yes, by the letter of the law, that's offsides. But it was far more marginal than the offsides called against Toney, whose body was mostly across the line.

Second, it's not clear if the refs warned the Broncos offensive linemen about it beforehand. Should they have to? Everyone in the league is on notice. Defensive players don't get a warning when they line up in the neutral zone. Every offensive player should know this is something the officials are looking out for this weekend.

After such a high-profile call, the refs are going to be more stringent than ever.

Of course, that called-back touchdown was less impactful than the one for the Chiefs. Kansas City would have taken a lead over the Bills with just over a minute to play. The Broncos would have made it a two-touchdown game instead of a three-score game.

The Chiefs can get things back on track on Sunday as they face off with the Patriots. They just need to make sure Toney and everyone else on offense checks the neutral zone before every snap. Flags will fly if they don't.