The National Football League’s refereeing is under scrutiny as the playoffs move forward, and center stage was especially put on display when Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs took to the field.
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Such achievements, as expected, have led to claims from some fans and social media users that the Chiefs and Mahomes are favored by the referees.
Between this and that, the officials made a choice not to flag a dirty hit on Washington Commanders quarterback Jared Goff made by a Detroit Lions player returning an interception for a touchdown on Saturday night. The officials also let a questionable out-of-bounds hit along the sideline on Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson by a Buffalo Bills player go without penalty on Sunday.
The conspiracy theory that the Chiefs get favored calls by officials was fueled further by this inconsistency. However, the two holding penalties called on the Texans for tackling Mahomes were questionable, but not clearly unjust according to NFL rules that prohibit hits to a quarterback’s head or neck area while throwing a pass or sliding to end a play. The league’s strict enforcement of these rules is intended to protect quarterbacks, many of whom are the league’s most prominent stars.
The referees are generally instructed to refrain from calling a foul unless it’s absolutely necessary, Walt Anderson said in a recent broadcast interview. However, there’s one clear exception to this rule, which is specifically outlined in the rulebook. According to Anderson, in situations where officials are unsure, they are directed to err on the side of caution and call a roughing the passer penalty to protect the quarterback.
On Satruday, Will Anderson of the Texans made contact with Mahomes with a relatively light hit to the head immediately after he released a pass. In the NFL’s rules, a quarterback attempting a pass is considered a defenseless player and protected from being hit in the head or neck area with force.
“I made a judgment call that led to a facial contact, and I ruled it a defensive penalty for hitting the quarterback in the mask, unnecessary,” referee Clay Martin said in a post-game press conference.
Walt Anderson stated on the league-owned NFL Network on Sunday, “It’s likely that when defensive players converge and face off against the quarterback, and there’s any form of contact directed at his head, the officials will flag the play.”
On Saturday during the second play, two Texas players came at Patrick Mahomes as he was sliding with the ball. According to NFL rules, as he slid, Mahomes became a defenseless player who couldn’t be hit in the head or neck area. The two Texas players collided with each other, but there was also glancing contact made with Mahomes’s head, albeit a much lighter impact.
Leading ESPN analyst Troy Aikman, a Hall of Fame former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, replied on the broadcast, “Let’s be real…he’s a runner. I absolutely disagree with that call. The fact is, he wasn’t even hit too hard.” ESPN’s rules expert Russell Yurk, a former NFL replay official, echoed Aikman’s sentiment, stating, “There was no hard hit to the football player’s head or neck area. Instead, the two Houston players collided with each other.”
After the game, Martin commented to the press pool, “I was forced into contact with the runner, right at the hairline of my helmet.” Anderson explained on Sunday, “When Texans linebacker Henry To’oToo enters the scene and accidentally strikes the runner’s helmet with the hairline of his own helmet while the runner is already on the ground, that constitutes an infraction.”
The league made changes to its replay-assist system heading into last season so that the replay officials could play a bigger role in helping the on-field officials determine penalties in specific situations, such as roughing the passer, intentional grounding and hits to a player who is out of bounds. Now, the replay official and the NFL’s officiating experts in New York can step in only when the on-field officials throw a flag on a play.
The replay system can be used to reverse a penalty call of roughing the passer when a defensive player is accused of hitting the quarterback in the head or neck, but the video clearly shows no such contact occurred.
The replay-assist system could have been applied to Will Anderson’s hit on Mahomes if it hadn’t been for the initial contact with Mahomes’s head. However, contact was made and replay assist can’t help decide if the contact was forceful enough to justify a penalty.
There was some contact made on the play,” Walt Anderson said on Sunday. “Unfortunately, the replay system wasn’t able to pick that up. That could lead to a debate about whether the contact was forceful enough to change the outcome of the play. And that’s something the competition committee will have to examine further next year.
The replay-assist system would not have overturned the penalty even if it had the ability to intervene on that play under replay review, Anderson noted.
Here are some situations in which replay can be used to quickly assist the on-field officials:
* During and immediately after a play, a review can potentially help speed up game time, resolve disputes, and uphold the integrity of the game by confirming or overturning the initial call, ensuring the correct call is made and maintaining fairness in the game.
“These are all areas that could potentially fit into the category of replay assistance,” Vincent said.
The league keeps tabs on which quarterbacks try to exploit the safety rules by deliberately sliding late or making a show before going out of bounds on the sideline.
We actually review each quarterback’s behavior on this every week, particularly those who tend to test the fence. We look at them and say, ‘If you act like you’re going to run with the ball on the sideline, you’re going to be treated as a runner and lose your protection.’ So we make a note of it each week: ‘Bad slide, good slide, got down early enough’.
Coaches have been kept informed by the league about what catches their attention, according to Vincent. Mahomes did not receive a flag on Saturday for a play in which he was pushed while still in bounds near the sideline, and he then threw his hands up and fell out of bounds.
It’s oft-repeated that the Chiefs and Mahomes get undeserved favorable calls, but the numbers don’t back this up. Data on penalties during the NFL season indicates that Mahomes was hit by penalty the eighth-most times when it comes to roughing the passer and unnecessary roughness, despite absorbing the most hits. Last year, the tendency was even less for the quarterback to be penalized.
Walt Anderson conveyed optimism that the replay-assist system will be expanded over the off-season.
The lines are often blurred when it comes to determining what’s considered a foul and what’s not, and there will always be disagreements. It’s ideal to have clear guidelines, and I’m supportive of the committee’s efforts to provide additional tools like replay review to help get it right. However, the game will never be flawless, so we’ll keep striving to improve it by refining the use of replay review to clearly identify obvious fouls, while leaving judgment calls that are subjective or open to interpretation up to the officials on the field.