Like the Kansas City Chiefs won another victory against the Houston Texans on Saturday, the story was once again centered on the officiating. As has happened throughout the season, the Chiefs benefited from a few controversial penalties called against Houston.
On Saturday, it was Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes who drew most of the penalties, collecting multiple unnecessary roughs and roughs on passer calls that raised a few eyebrows. ESPN analyst Troy Aikman was expressed anger over calls during show; Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said before the game that it would be “us against everyone,” corralling the refs with that statement.
On Sunday, however, the NFL said it had responded well to the calls.
NFL rules analyst Walt Anderson, a former referee who is now a communications liaison for the league, visited NFL GameDay Sunday morning to talk about the controversial calls.
NFL Officiating Rules Analyst Walt Anderson appeared on @NFLGameDay with a detailed explanation of the controversial flags thrown on Saturday for hits on #Chefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Short version, according to Anderson: According to the rules, the officials got both calls right. pic.twitter.com/gIL9OidOQL
– Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 19, 2025
The first call Anderson spoke on was a rough passer call in the first quarter. On third down, Mahomes was tackled by Houston defensive end Will Anderson Jr. right after releasing the ball. The penalty gave the Chiefs 15 yards and a first down on a drive that ultimately resulted in a field goal.
Anderson said the reason for the call was based on the fact that Mahomes’ head moved slightly during the tackle, indicating contact with his helmet.
“If there is any contact with the head quarterback, the officials will probably call him,” Anderson said.
Anderson said response assistance can only be used if there is no contact with the helmet; Since Mahomes’ helmet was hit, officials could not use replay assistance to confirm whether the contact was forced.
“You might end up having to debate whether you felt it was forced or not, and that will be one of those conversations that the competition committee will look at next year,” Anderson said.
The rules analyst added that roughing the passer is one of the only fouls for which referees are instructed to call the penalty “when in doubt.”
“They’re going to protect the quarterbacks,” Anderson said of the officials.
Anderson also responded to an unnecessary roughness call in the third quarter, where Mahomes had a late slide and caused an apparent collision between two Texans defenders. “Whether it appears to be the case or not, officials have to decide based on what they see,” Anderson said.
Anderson said that since Texas linebacker Henry To’oTo’o’s helmet grazed the top of Mahomes’ helmet while he was already on the ground, that was enough to call the penalty. The severity of helmet-to-helmet contact does not matter.
“Even if proofreading assistance could help, when there’s contact like that, it’s not going to change,” Anderson said.
Moving forward, Anderson said the goal of improving officiating is to make the game better rather than perfect.
“It’s one of those areas that’s going to be debated as well, in terms of what’s forced and what’s not,” Anderson said. “But the game will never be perfect, and one thing we don’t want to do is let the perfect be the enemy of the good. (…) In those areas that are gray and may be questionable, we have to leave those on the ground.
Anderson added that expanding when referees can use answer assist will be addressed by the league during the offseason.
