Controversial Chiefs-Texans penalties shouldn’t have been called, NFL officiating expert says

The Houston Texans did not mince their words after their divisional playoff elimination on Saturday. In Houston’s eyes, the officials played a big role in their 23-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.

“We knew going into this game that it was ‘Us against everyone,'” Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said after the game. “And when I say everyone, I mean everyone.”

“We knew it was going to be us against the refs before this game,” defensive end Will Anderson Jr. added.

The Texans, who entered the game as 8.5-point underdogs, clashed early with the two-time reigning world champions. Although they outplayed their opponent and had more success on third downs, they also held the lead in penalties.

While the Chiefs were flagged four times for 29 yards in front of their home crowd, the visiting Texans were penalized for eight infractions, resulting in a loss of 82 yards. The volume itself was not the team’s main complaint afterward, but rather the nature of some of the calls.

And in the eyes of NFL officiating expert Ben Austro of the Football Zebras, the most controversial flags indeed should not have been called.

The first of those came with 7:00 left in the first quarter, when Anderson was called for roughing the passer on a Patrick Mahomes miss. Instead of the Chiefs facing a 4th and 3, the flag kept their momentum alive; seven plays later, they scored a field goal to go up 6-3.

According to Austro, the right decision would have been none:

Texans defensive end Will Anderson was flagged for roughing the passer. Contact was high, but there was no strength contact with the head and neck area. This should not have been penalized.

He said replay rules could have overturned that call, but because there was head contact, no such action was taken. The flag went up, allowing Kansas City to gain 15 free yards.

The second controversial penalty came with 1:52 left in the third quarter. The Texans were coming off a massive 15-play, 82-yard touchdown drive to cut their deficit to one point. Leading 13-12, Kansas City tried to regain some momentum on its next possession, which the team was able to do thanks to a spectacular 11-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes to tight end Travis Kelce .

This piece did not cause controversy, which was not the case earlier in the series. Making a tackle against Mahomes on a 9-yard scramble, linebacker Henry To’oTo’o was hit with an unnecessary roughness call.

Austro again disagrees with the call:

A second hit on quarterback Patrick Mahomes was ruled unnecessary. In reality, this should not have been a flag and, in the context of the previous wrong flag, it fans the flames of preferential treatment.

On a race like this, there are NO quarterback protections, only those available to any other runner. Mahomes can be contacted because of his late decision to slide, except the Texans can’t forcibly touch him in the head or neck area. Defenders have to go over it.

There is contact with his head, but there is also contact with the body which makes the contact with the head accidental and not forced. What officials see if Henry To’oTo’o enters the tackle with his forearm in front. There is the signature of a forced headshot, and unfortunately the crew took that as a foul.

The officiating expert later added that “

However, those penalties were only part of Houston’s loss. Leaving five points on the board due to three total missed field goals, going 1-for-3 in the red zone and taking a 16-yard sack on a 4th-and-10 in the fourth quarter didn’t help the team’s early chances. ‘team. Kansas City with a win either.

The Texans needed to bring their A-game to succeed in their game Saturday afternoon, and they didn’t. Neither do civil servants.