Cheating? DeMeco Ryans, CJ Stroud, and other Texans players bluntly call out the referees for favoring Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs during playoff game
Texans' DeMeco Ryans and his players did not hold back in expressing their discontent with the officiating favoring Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs.
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DeMeco Ryans, CJ Stroud bluntly call out the referees for favoring Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs (Via Houston Public Media/Imago/Sporting News)
The Kansas City Chiefs moved a step closer to achieving their ultimate goal of three-peat with a strong 23-14 win. However, the game was overshadowed by a series of controversial officiating decisions that drew sharp criticism from their opponent Houston Texans, who felt the referees heavily favored Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs.
The Saturday Night Football game delivered a significant setback for CJ Stroud-led Texans, who sustained a 23-14 loss despite outgaining their opponent by 100 yards with zero turnovers as noted by ESPN’s Ben Solak. On top of that, their offensive performance was derailed by key penalties and quarterback pressures.
The Texans were particularly aggrieved by two key penalties against their defense, including roughing the passer. Will Anderson Jr. and Henry To’oTo’o were both flagged for hits on Mahomes that many observers deemed questionable. Houston was flagged a total eight times to Kansas City’s four penalty, which the former’s players had already anticipated while heading into the game.
Controversial calls overshadow Texans’ efforts against Chiefs
Following the disappointing game, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans did not hold back in expressing his team’s discontent with the officiating. He already knew that the Texans were an underdog against the two-time Super Bowl defending champions, highlighting the challenges his team faced not only against the Chiefs but also against perceived bias from the officials.
“We knew going into this game, man, it was us versus everybody,” Ryans told the reporters when asked about the controversial officiating in the game.
When I say everybody, I mean everybody. The naysayers, the doubt. Everybody we had to go against again today. Going into this game knowing what we were up against, we can’t make the mistakes we made.
DeMeco Ryans added
🚨WOW: #TEXANS HC DEMECO RYANS ON THE REFS QUESTIONABLE CALLS FOR THE #CHIEFS.
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) January 19, 2025
“WE KNEW GOING INTO THIS GAME THAT IT WAS US VERSUS EVERYBODY. AND I MEAN EVERYBODY.”
Wow… 😳
pic.twitter.com/ZIvbOv5lYW
This emotions were well ecoed by quarterback Stroud, who threw for 245 yards and sacked eight times, suggesting that they anticipated of unfair treatment even before stepping on the Arrowhead stadium.
Texans RB Joe Mixon on the officiating in today's game:
— Will Kunkel (@WillKunkelFOX) January 19, 2025
"Everybody know how it is playing up here. You can never leave it into the refs hands. The whole world see, man." pic.twitter.com/NZPIlO6YrQ
Anderson Jr. was much more straightforward with his take on the officiating, especially since he was penalized, stating, “We knew it was going to be us vs. the refs going into this game.” Though he added that he doesn’t entirely blame the officials, admitting the Texans could have played better.
Star running back Joe Mixon also took the direct approach, highlighting the scrutiny referress have faced throughout the season for favoring the Chiefs. As the season concluded for the Texans, they look forwad to revamp and focus on building chemistry to prepare for next season.
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Pratyusha Srivastava
(2108 Articles Published)