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The Houston Texans entered Saturday’s AFC Divisional Round game against the two-time defending Super Bowl Kansas City Chiefs as large underdogs. To be specific, they were 9.5-point underdogs. So the Texans were already facing an uphill battle.
That battle got even more difficult early on in the game when the referees appeared to gift the Chiefs a first down on an incredibly soft roughing the passer call against defensive end Will Anderson.
Roughing the passer: pic.twitter.com/c6h1X4gWtD
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 18, 2025
Had the flag not been thrown, Kansas City would have been forced to punt. Instead, they marched down into Houston territory and kicked a field goal in order to take a 6-3 lead.
Commentators Joe Buck and Troy Aikman both questioned the call, while ESPN rules official Russell Yurk said that he “didn’t see anything there that supported a foul.”
Unsurprisingly, fans were quick to call out the brutal call.
It is absolutely INCREDIBLE the amount of crappy bailout calls that Mahomes and the Chiefs get. Just unbelievable.
— Dr. B (@BlakeTheRxGuy) January 18, 2025
Horrible call, but it’s in favor of the Chiefs, so it’s to be expected 🗑️ pic.twitter.com/mOXhGSQqqa
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) January 18, 2025
The refs bail out Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs after a 3rd and 8 incomplete pass for roughing the passer. I’m shocked the Chiefs got a bad call pic.twitter.com/1AbF3bVkBz
— CFBBlueprint (@CFBBluePrint) January 18, 2025
Kansas City has an extensive history of benefiting from dubious calls in recent seasons, and this one isn’t going to help shake the narrative that the Chiefs are getting a good bit of help.