On Sunday, the Broncos lost against the Colts, after a leverage call that lost the Broncos the game. With the Broncos up 28-26 with 3 seconds left, Colts kicker Spencer Shrader attempted a 60 yard Field goal that he missed wide right, but a leverage penalties that did not seem to affect the kick was called on Dondrea Tillman. This gave the Colts 15 yards, and they went on to make a 45-yard field goal as time expired, to beat the Broncos 29-28.
The History of the Leverage Call
The Leverage Call was first introduced in the 2010 season, since then there have been 3,040 games and the leverage penalty has only been called 51 times.
According to the NFL, a leverage call is:
“Except for fouls that are committed in an attempt to block the kick (such as running into or roughing the kicker, defensive holding (pull-and-shoot), leverage, leaping, and pushing teammate(s) into the offensive formation), if the receiving team commits a foul during a scrimmage kick play that crosses the line of scrimmage, the penalty for its infraction will be enforced as if it had been in possession of the ball at the time the foul occurred (a post-possession foul), provided that the receiving team does not lose possession of the ball at any time during the down. The penalty shall be enforced from whichever of the following spots is least beneficial to the receiving team:
The end of the kick; or the spot of the foul.
If the foul occurs in the end zone, it is deemed to have occurred at the 20-yard line, unless enforcement results in a safety (14-4-4).” (National Football League)
In summary, a leverage call is when a defender uses a blocker to gain leverage by pushing off them to jump higher.
National Football League. (n.d.). NFL Rulebook. NFL Football Operations. Retrieved September 17, 2025, from https://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/nfl-rulebook
