Last week’s divisional round matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans, Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes drew two controversial penalty flags. However, it appears that the NFL has concluded that those flags should not have been thrown.
In the first quarter, Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. was penalized for roughing the passer. Later in the game, defensive tackle Folorunso Fatukasi and linebacker Henry To’oTo’o were flagged for contact on Mahomes following a late quarterback slide.
Typically, when penalties like these occur, the league reviews the footage of the play after the game, and if the infractions are confirmed via film, players receive fines in addition to the on-field penalties.
However, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes, the NFL opted not to issue any fines to the Texans defenders for these incidents.
“The NFL did not fine Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. for a first-quarter roughing the passer foul. The league also did not fine defensive tackle Folorunso Fatukasi or linebacker Henry To’oTo’o for their Malachi crunch after Mahomes slid in the second half,” Florio wrote for Pro Football Talk.
Florio points out that the refusal to issue any fines strongly implies the NFL acknowledges the calls were incorrect and that the flags should not have been thrown.
“Both fouls prompted criticism of Chiefs bias on the part of officials. The fact that they weren’t fined suggests that, after more careful consideration of the film, the NFL decided that the hits did not merit punishment — which suggests that the flags shouldn’t have been thrown,” Florio wrote.
Needless to say, this whole situation led to a lot of reactions on social media.
“Can’t believe they didn’t fine those 2 Texans for colliding with each other while Mahomes slid,” one fan wrote on X.
“They have to try and make themselves look better. Nudge nudge, wink wink.. Nothing to see here!” someone else wrote.
“Those officials deserved a fine,” another person added.
“They should not have been penalties, so yeah I guess it makes sense that they weren’t fined,” someone else said.
“The only ones getting fines should be the refs. The defense barely touched him,” another person added.
“The refs should be fined!” someone else quipped.
While the league has no way to retroactively change the calls, it’s pretty clear that the calls were not correct.
