Before Saturday’s AFC Divisional Round playoff battle between the Chiefs and Texans, most fans believed the referees favored Kansas City and wanted them to win. After watching Saturday’s game, pretty much everyone believes the referees are in the tank for Kansas City.
One particularly egregious example occurred when Texans linebacker Henry To’o To’o was penalized for barely touching Patrick Mahomes.
Once again, watching Kansas City Chiefs games if you're not a fan of the team is brutal. The refs are an absolute joke.pic.twitter.com/fsRdlbUN6e#HOUvsKC
— Fernando Quiles Jr. (@FQJMMA) January 18, 2025
The call was so bad that even NFL Hall of Famer and ESPN color analyst Troy Aikman blasted the officials.
X users reacted with disgust.
NFL officiating is pathetic.
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) January 18, 2025
Good on Troy Aikman dragging this.
Texans getting absolutely robbed and the Chiefs benefitting per usual.
“Roughing the passer” on Mahomes when he was quite literally not even hit.
— Jordan Moore (@iJordanMoore) January 18, 2025
The NFL game is truly unwatchable. Never seen a blatant rig job in my life. pic.twitter.com/vVwTKJ3Fgw
The refs whenever a Chiefs drive is looking like it’s cooked: pic.twitter.com/KzKc0HNIZX
— Sleeper (@SleeperHQ) January 18, 2025
These refs @NFL are getting out of control, man. #rigged @Chiefs @HoustonTexans
— Lil Juicy (@chrisbrann5) January 18, 2025
Enough with the Chiefs love pic.twitter.com/cSgZJgw7ko
These refs are ridiculous...
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 18, 2025
How is a flag on the Texans??
Mahomes slid way too late. Awful.pic.twitter.com/Tir2HqV1ah
The faux hit on Mahomes was not the only missed call by the zebras. At one point, Texans tight end Dalton Schultz was brought down by a blatant hip drop tackle, and no foul was called.
You're not gonna see a more clear "hip drop tackle" but of course no flag because it's the Kansas City Chiefs pic.twitter.com/K5p0CDAI3l
— Packerfan Total Access- Clayton (@packers_access) January 18, 2025
Texans LB Will Anderson was called for roughing the passer on a play where he barely touched Mahomes.
The refs are criminal to call this roughing the passer on Will Anderson. He barely hit Mahomes.#HOUvsKC pic.twitter.com/3RO1HVqqQM
— Mike McDonalds (@MikMcDonalds) January 18, 2025
As the scriptwriters clearly dictated, the Chiefs defeated the Texans 23-14. They and their NFL officials now await the winner of the Ravens-Bills game.
