Getty Image / David Eulitt
Last night, football fans were treated to a nail-biter on Monday Night Football. After struggling early and falling behind 17-0 against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Kansas City Chiefs rallied in the second half.
The game featured 4 Travis Kielce touchdowns, some questionable decision-making from both coaches late in the game, and a 1-point win for Chiefs, but it was unfortunately the refs that will be one of the biggest talking points to come from the game.
In a week where fans were already discussing roughing the passer calls because of a questionable one that went in favor of Tom Brady on Sunday, the refs in last night’s game made a terrible roughing call against the Chiefs that could have a major impact on the outcome of the game.
The call came late in the first half as the Raiders were driving to give themselves a chance to put more points on the board before halftime. Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones had other ideas. On a 3rd and 8 from the Raiders’ 46, Jones got into the backfield and not only got a sack that would have ended a drive, but forced and recovered a fumble.
Chris Jones gets called for roughing the passer and Andy Reid was not happy about it.#LVvsKC pic.twitter.com/lPzenksppa
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 11, 2022
The play would have given the Chiefs great field position to cut into a 17-7 deficit before the half. Instead, the roughing the passer call advanced the Raiders into Chiefs’ territory and send Chiefs fans into a frenzy.
It turns out, Derek Carr agreed with Chiefs’ fans’ assessment of the penalty.
Derek Carr thought the refs made a bad call on roughing the passer against the Chiefs
Chris Jones said he and Carr, who are friends, had a laugh about the roughing the passer call after the game. Jones said Carr told him he has no idea how that was called.
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) October 11, 2022
Luckily, the call didn’t end up impacting the outcome of the game, but it’s pretty bad when even the beneficiary of such an important call is willing to admit that it was clearly wrong.