It has become a pastime for NFL fans to complain that the Kansas City Chiefs get all the calls. And NFL officials keep giving them reasons to complain.
On Saturday it wasn’t just disgruntled non-Chiefs fans sounding off. ESPN’s Troy Aikman was not happy at all over an unnecessary roughness call on Patrick Mahomes that cost the Houston Texans 15 yards in an AFC divisional-round game at Arrowhead Stadium.
Mahomes was running around and slid at the last possible second. Two Texans defenders collided, Mahomes was barely hit, but the penalty was against Houston.
It wasn’t the only time the Chiefs had the benefit of a call. There was a roughing the passer penalty on Will Anderson Jr. in the first half in which Anderson barely hit Mahomes. A hip-drop tackle on the Chiefs wasn’t penalized, though officials have rarely called that all season. The call when Mahomes ducked down and barely got hit was enough to infuriate Aikman.
“Oh, come on,” Aikman said on the broadcast as the call was being made.
“He’s a runner. I could not disagree with that one more and he barely gets hit,” Aikman said. “That’s the second penalty now that’s been called against the Texans.”
It’s worth noting that Aikman is a former quarterback. They usually stick together, but the call on Houston was so bad that Aikman had to stand up for the defensive players.
ESPN rules analyst Russell Yurk also said it was a bad call.
“Troy I agree with you. There’s no forcible contact to the head and neck area of him,” Yurk said. “The two Houston players hit each other and that should not have been a foul.”
The Chiefs kept moving the ball downfield after that call and Mahomes hit Travis Kelce for a touchdown and a 20-12 lead.
The Chiefs are a great dynasty. On Saturday, most of the discussion had to do with how many calls they get from the officials. That’s probably not the look the league wants.
