(Video) Refs give Chiefs another helping hand with call setting up Patrick Mahomes’ rush TD in AFC championship game

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs heading into the AFC Championship game with a reputation of getting help from officials.

(Video) Refs give Chiefs another helping hand with call setting up Patrick Mahomes’ rush TD in AFC championship game

Referees award Xavier Worthy the catch despite ball touching the ground (Image via X/SS)

The Kansas City Chiefs are battling the Buffalo Bills to make their third straight trip to the Super Bowl. One of the narratives dominating anything surrounding Patrick Mahomes‘ team is the penalties opposing teams face, suggesting officiating errors are helping them.

In the Divisional round, those officiating errors took center stage as certain penalties were deemed illogical enough for referees to award them to the Houston Texans. Mahomes denied the suggestion, as he felt the officiating was fair.

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However, the Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills probably heard what the Texans said about them facing the Chiefs and the referees. So far in the game, it has stayed clean and both sides have had balanced calls from the officials. However, in the second half, one such situation again came up.

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With a little more than three minutes to play, Patrick Mahomes threw a deep ball towards rookie Xavier Worthy. He went up to grab the ball, but along with his was Bills safety Cole Bishop who leapt a bit higher than his fellow rookie.

In doing so, Bishop got his hands on the ball and as they came down to the ground, Worthy got both his hands on the ball. However, a flag was already thrown ahead of the spot. That was against Damar Hamlin for defensive holding.

The referees called out that the Chiefs had declined the penalty as they had a complete pass registered on Xavier Worthy. However, replays show that the ball hit the ground before the rookie could take control of it. This error helped set up Patrick Mahomes’ running touchdown that gave them a 21-10 lead.

Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs leading the Bills

That officiating error came about even though the Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott threw a challenge flag. However, that happened to be the only major error from referee Clete Blakeman and his crew.

Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs lead the Buffalo Bills
Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs lead the Buffalo Bills (Image via NFL on CBS/X)

They have kept the penalties balanced so far even though the discourse has fans on the lookout for calls that benefit the Kansas City Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs have seen officials call five penalties on them. The Bills have a similar number of penalties, however, have given away a lot more yards to those calls.

But that has not had an impact on the score as they currently trail the Chiefs 22-29. Josh Allen and his team have to turn up the creativity if they are to win. Their defense is not being able to shut down the Chiefs in open field plays in this AFC Championship game.

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