Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes insists referees don’t play favorites.
After the Houston Texans’ 23-14 divisional-round loss to K.C., edge-rusher Will Anderson Jr. suggested the Chiefs receive special treatment from referees. Mahomes disagrees.
“I don’t feel that way,” Mahomes said in his Wednesday news conference. “At the end of the day, the referees are doing their best to call the game as fair and proper as they can.”
However, many calls favor Kansas City. According to Douglas Clawson of CBS Sports, the Chiefs have gone 11 straight playoff games without committing more penalties than their opponents, the longest streak by any team in 30 years. In the divisional round, the Chiefs had four penalties for 29 yards, while the Texans had eight for 82.
Many of these penalties come at inconvenient times for K.C.’s opponents.
The Texans were twice penalized for hits on Mahomes on scoring drives. One of the calls was a roughing the passer on Anderson on a 3rd-and-8 at K.C.’s 33-yard line. ESPN rules analyst Russell Yurk thought it was the wrong call.
“Based on what you saw, it looked like [Anderson] did come up high with the helmet, but it looked like that first contact was to the upper chest area,” Yurk said during the telecast. “I didn’t see anything there that supported a foul.”
