The officiating in games that feature the Kansas City Chiefs has been a source of controversy all season long for the NFL. From missed calls to questionable penalties, numerous fan bases have fielded legitimate gripes about the league and its officials when it comes to officiating game of the back-to-back Super Bowl champions.
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The most recent blunder in this series of egregious calls came in the midst of the divisional round of the playoffs, which saw the Chiefs claim a 23-14 victory over the Houston Texans. The game started with Houston receiving a questionable roughing the passer penalty after Will Anderson Jr. found a clean hit on Mahomes in the pocket around the seven-minute mark in the first quarter.
However, things would only get worse from there. With less than two minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Texans found themselves trailing 13-12. After Mahomes could not find an open target down field, he opted to scramble past the line of scrimmage. Now enjoying the same rule protections as a RB, he would suddenly drop to the ground before a duo of Texans defenders collided over top of him. Despite both defenders initiating more contact with each other than Mahomes, the Texans were awarded an unnecessary roughness penalty.
In an interview on The Drive with Carrington Harrison, Mahomes was asked for his thoughts about why the conversation surrounding the game was primarily focused on the officiating. In regards to the noise, Mahomes said that he does not “really pay attention to it” and that he’s “been on both sides of it.” Ultimately, he asserted his belief that NFL officials are “doing their best to make the best calls and keep it to where the players are making the plays” to decide the outcome. Rather than focusing on the calls that “people don’t agree with” he would rather focus on the plays that he feels decide the end result.
During a Week 14 showdown against the Buffalo Bills in 2023, a blatant offensive offsides penalty against Kansas City wiped a touchdown off the board, resulting in a 20-17 victory for Buffalo. Mahomes was beside himself and went as far as to tell Josh Allen, “That was the worst [expletive] call I’ve ever seen in my life.” However, he didn’t stop there. Both Mahomes and Chiefs HC, Andy Reid, made numerous comments to members of the media following the game. Mahomes was officially fined $50,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct for “Abusive, threatening, or insulting language to officials.”
Given this track record, it seems to many fans that Mahomes has little to no issue when he stands to gain from poor officiating. However, should it hinder his team in any way whatsoever, he is quick to lash out. Regardless of where you may stand on the matter, the quality of officiating in Chiefs’ games seems unlikely to improve soon. To quote Mahomes himself, “…It’s every week we’re talking about something (officiating)” and it is indeed a “…Tough — tough pill to swallow.”
