NFL Comments on Controversial Penalties Called Against Patrick Mahomes
There was a controversial penalty call during last night's NFL playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans, and the league commented.
The Kansas City Chiefs won a divisional round game again on Saturday, this time over the Houston Texans. Still, officiating was again the central topic as the Chiefs benefited from several questionable penalties.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes was again at the center of most calls, including a handful of unnecessary roughness and roughing the passer penalties that were hotly debated.
Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said officiating would be a problem before the game, calling it "us vs. everybody."
The NFL defends their calls and say they were correct
On Sunday, Walt Anderson, NFL rules analyst, defended the calls. He said a roughing the passer penalty in the first quarter was called because Houston's Will Anderson Jr. hit the helmet of Mahomes while tackling him.
According to NFL rules, replay can't assist on helmet contact, so officials have to make a decision.
A second questionable call came on a late third-quarter slide by Mahomes when an unnecessary roughness penalty was called.
He said even incidental helmet-to-helmet contact, like the slight graze from Texans linebacker Henry To'oTo'o, is a flag, regardless of its severity.
Anderson said he understood why fans would be upset with the call but reiterated that referees are coached to lean toward safety in such cases.
"They're gonna protect the quarterbacks," Anderson said of the officials.
"Even if replay assist could help in that, when there's contact like that, that's not gonna be changed," Anderson said.
He also pointed to improvements around officiating the league will continue to work on, including possible changes to replay assist rules this offseason.
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