To the surprise of very few, the Chiefs were the beneficiaries of some controversial calls in this one, including not one but two highly questionable against the Texans defense on plays against Mahomes, one of which was unnecessary roughness and the other being roughing the passer.
On Sunday, NFL senior vice president of officiating Walt Anderson appeared on NFL Gameday to break down why he believes the calls were actually correct, per Tom Pelissero on X.
“On the roughing the passer, whenever the defender comes in, there’s a couple of points, and when we end up looking at the video, when the defenders come in face to face, if there’s contact to the head of the quarterback, that’s probably going to be called by the official,” said Anderson.
Perhaps the more controversial of the two calls was the unnecessary roughness penalty, in which Mahomes was on the run, clearly trying to evade defenders before going into a mini slide at the last second and drawing marginal contact.
“Whether it seems like it or not, officials have to call it based on what they see. When a player goes to the ground, he doesn’t even have to be touched. He’s down,” claimed Anderson. “And what happens here is, when number 39 comes in, and the hairline of his helmet strikes the helmet of the runner who is already on the ground, that’s a foul.”
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The Chiefs survive and advance
Saturday’s game and Anderson’s subsequent explanation likely didn’t do much to quiet the growing chorus of NFL fans who believe that the Chiefs, similarly to the New England Patriots back in the day, have been the beneficiaries of some erroneous officiating to help keep their dynasty afloat.
Fans will point to a late controversial pass interference call against the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2023 Super Bowl, as well as a blatant missed pass interference call at the end of the Chiefs’ win this year over the Atlanta Falcons, as just a few examples of the team’s supposed good fortune when it comes to officiating.
In any case, the Chiefs will now await the winner of the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens, to be hosted at Arrowhead Stadium next week.
