Christmas ain’t over yet for the Kansas City Chiefs, as they march toward the AFC Championship Game. This divisional-round matchup against the Texans reminded us all again why we love football. We got to witness brilliant, historic performances and late-game magic. The Chiefs must’ve felt this win more deeply, as their 23-14 victory makes them undefeated at home this year. And this marks their 7th consecutive streak of making it beyond the divisional round.

After the Chiefs’ victory, the spotlight shifted to the post-game comments made by Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. Following the loss, Anderson spoke candidly in an interview. “We knew it was going to be us versus the refs going into this game,” he said. His remarks came in response to some questionable officiating. Chiefs 4-time All-Pro Mitchell Schwartz quickly took to social media to address Anderson’s claims. On his X account, Schwartz tweeted, “If you ‘knew’ that was the case why didn’t you lower your strike point and hit him in the midsection? Serious question. You hit him up high where it gets dicey in real time for refs to tell if there’s contact to the head. By rule, this is a penalty, crown of helmet on facemask.” Schwartz accompanied his tweet with a picture of Anderson pushing Patrick Mahomes, further emphasizing his point on the play.

Mitchell didn’t call out Anderson because of any rivalry, he’s actually presenting a solid rebuttal. What Anderson said about the Chiefs literally makes it sound like the Chiefs won because the referees were on their side. We’ve all witnessed that this wasn’t the case at all. The Kansas City Chiefs would’ve won even if it had been at the Texans’ home. How can anyone ignore the fact that Travis Kelce surpassed WR Jerry Rice for the most 100+ yard games in NFL postseason history, recording his 9th such game? Anybody would have defended the team the way Mitchell did.

This controversial roughing of the passer penalty against Patrick Mahomes sparked a firestorm after the game. The officials flagged Will Anderson Jr. even though he barely felt the hit. However, there was helmet-to-helmet contact, and that’s usually enough. “If there’s contact to the head of the quarterback, that’s probably going to be called by the officials,” Anderson said. He defended his action by stating that the call was based on the slightest head movement, making it an automatic penalty under the rulebook. These debates over these calls highlight how strict the rules are when it comes to protecting the QB. 

Was Will Anderson Jr.’s penalty the only issue, or did the Texans fall short elsewhere?

It wasn’t just the call on Anderson that got people talking. Texans HC DeMeco Ryans had already warned his team about the uphill battle against both the Chiefs and the officials. The referees flagged the Texans for eight penalties totaling 82 yards. While the call on Anderson felt harsh, especially with minimal helmet contact, missed opportunities like giving up big plays early and CJ Stroud getting sacked eight times played a bigger role in the loss. The penalties not only disrupted the Texans’ rhythm but also led to fines for key players. The league fined Azeez Al-Shaair $20,555 for unnecessary roughness. They penalized Nico Collins $14,069 for an unsportsmanlike gesture. Joe Mixon received an $11,255 fine for unnecessary roughness.

Recently, NFL Officiating Rules Analyst Walt Anderson appeared on NFL GameDay, offering an explanation for the flags thrown on hits to Chiefs QB. “You can end up having to debate about whether you felt it was forcible or not, and that’s going to be one of those conversations for the competition committee to consider next year,” he explained. This raises questions about the consistency of officiating and whether these penalties truly reflect the league’s safety standards or are simply open to debate. The fines resulting from these calls further highlight the tension between player safety and the interpretation of the rules.