Bad officiating Taints Texans-Chiefs

Troy Aikman calls out refs and the league

We witnessed some of the worst officiating and best announcing during the Kansas City Chiefs’ 23-14 win over the Houston Texans in a Saturday AFC Division playoff game.

ABC broadcaster Troy Aikman, showing his usual spot-on brutal honesty, called out an official by name and challenged the NFL to correct a situation that unfairly inhibits defenses from, well, playing defense.

The most disconcerting officiating call happened in the third quarter, with the Chiefs leading 13-12 and driving. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes could not find a receiver. He began showing off his loose-limbed running style — slithering amongst defenders until he abruptly took a dive, known generously in NFL lingo as a slide.

Two Texans defenders in proximity left their feet at the same moment Mahomes did. Those defenders — Henry To’oTo’o and Foley Fatukasi — made much more contact with each other than with Mahomes, who was beneath them.

Flag. Penalty. Unnecessary roughness.

“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. That's the second penalty now that's been called against the Texans. …It was a late flag, and it was Clay Martin who threw it.

“They’ve gotta address it in the offseason,” added Aikman, himself a Hall of Fame quarterback who is more concerned about the integrity of the game than the NFL’s penchant for pampering his positional descendants.

The penalty gave life to a 13-play, 81-yard drive that allowed the Chiefs to extend their lead to eight points.

Aikman and his partner Joe Buck again proved they are the best NFL booth duo during the fourth quarter.

With the Chiefs leading, Mahomes slowed down near the sideline—seemingly waiting for a push in the back from a Texans defender. When he got one, the three-time Super Bowl champ fell theatrically to the ground, begging for a 15-yard penalty.

Neither Aikman nor Buck bought the act. They defended the officials for not throwing a flag this time, but pointed out a couple of earlier questionable calls.

“You see, rather than just run out of bounds, he slows down,” Aikman noted about Mahomes’s effort to draw a penalty. “That’s been the frustration. I get it, I understand. That’s been the frustration of these defensive players around the league.”

Again, Aikman called for the league to address such shenanigans. That usually means the Competition Committee will examine the situation and provide some perspective before the League Meetings in March.

“They’ve got to address that in the offseason,” Aikman repeated. “You can’t, as a quarterback, run around and play games with defenders, then be able to draw a penalty.”