Sports Al Dente

As often happens in the NFL playoffs, officiating is a hot topic, and this year, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are at the center of the debate.

The discussions around the Chiefs have gotten so loud that Mahomes was asked about them during a radio interview in Kansas City on 96.5 The Fan on Wednesday. He disagrees with the idea that he or the Chiefs are receiving special calls from referees that influence the outcome of games. However, he did admit to one situation where he felt he may have exaggerated the play.

Mahomes’ Admission

“I would say the only one I felt like I probably did too much was the one on the sideline where I didn’t get the flag,” Mahomes said. “The refs saw it and didn’t throw a flag. I understood it immediately and know that I probably shouldn’t have done that.”

The play he referred to occurred during a scramble against the Houston Texans. As Mahomes neared the sideline, he slowed down, and Texans linebacker Henry To’oTo’o pushed him back inbounds. Mahomes then tumbled out of bounds, his arms flailing above his head.

In a league where quarterbacks are highly protected, this play could have easily resulted in a penalty for a late hit. Opposing fans might argue that Mahomes was trying to draw a flag by exaggerating the situation, using his star power to his advantage.

Mahomes’ comments seemed to confirm that he might have been attempting to get a penalty called, though the officials did not fall for it, and no flag was thrown for a late hit.

Questionable Calls on Texans

Despite that play not drawing a penalty, there were other moments in the game when flags were thrown against the Texans for hits on Mahomes that some considered questionable. One of these plays occurred when two Texans defenders collided while trying to tackle Mahomes.

In this case, Mahomes was running with the ball and slid at the last second as two defenders, To’oTo’o and Folorunso Fatukasi, converged on him. Their helmets collided as Mahomes went to the ground, and To’oTo’o was penalized for unnecessary roughness.

The penalty seemed debatable since Mahomes was a runner and had slid at the last moment. The helmet-to-helmet contact was mainly between the two Texans players, and the hit didn’t appear to be particularly forceful. Regardless, the penalty resulted in a 15-yard gain for the Chiefs, who then went on to score a touchdown to extend their lead to 20-12.

Mahomes Explains the Situation

Mahomes explained the situation by saying, “The one that everybody’s talking about where I fell down, I was just trying to get out of the way of getting smoked by the defensive linemen running. So I’ll try to keep doing that and not take those hits. Because that’s the smart way to stay in the football game.”

While Mahomes’ reasoning makes sense, his explanation doesn’t address the issue of the referees’ decision to throw the flag. The penalty was called, but it wasn’t necessarily justified.

Defending the Officials

It’s not Mahomes’ fault that the referees threw the flag, and it is the responsibility of the NFL and its officials to make sure they get calls right. The NFL stood by the referees’ decisions, with Walt Anderson, the NFL’s chief rules analyst, defending the call.

“This is one of those areas that is also going to be debated, in terms of what’s forcible, what’s not,” Anderson said. “But the game is not ever going to be perfect, and one thing we don’t want to do is let perfect be the enemy of good… In those areas that are gray, and may be debatable, we have to leave those on the field.”

Anderson also supported another controversial penalty. On a separate play, Texans pass rusher Will Anderson Jr. hit Mahomes in the chest as Mahomes was releasing the ball. There was a possibility that the crown of Anderson’s helmet grazed Mahomes’ facemask, though it was hard to confirm.

The hit led to a roughing-the-passer penalty, resulting in a 15-yard penalty that gave the Chiefs a new set of downs. They later scored a field goal to take a 6-3 lead early in the first quarter, and they went on to win the game 23-14.

Mahomes Reacts to Criticism

Mahomes downplayed the criticism that the Chiefs benefit from favorable calls from officials. “I’ve kind of learned that no matter what happens during the game, that something is going to come out about it if you win, if you continue to win,” Mahomes said. “I don’t really pay attention to it. Obviously, I’ve been on both sides of it as far as how I’ve felt that calls were made.”

He continued, “But at the end of the day, those guys are doing their best to make the best calls and keep it to where the players are making the plays in the game, and that’s what decides the outcome. Obviously, there was a call here or there that people didn’t agree with, but at the same time I think there were a lot of other plays that decided the outcome of that football game.”