Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes drew two questionable 15-yard penalties during Saturday’s win over the Texans, but his attempt to draw a third by slowing down near the sideline and then falling to the ground as soon as he was touched was not successful.
Mahomes acknowledged in an interview with Carrington Harrison of 96.5 The Fan that the officials were correct not to throw a flag on that play, and he shouldn’t have attempted to draw a penalty in that way.
“I would say the only one I felt like I probably did too much was the one on the sideline where I didn’t get the flag,” Mahomes said. “The refs saw it and it didn’t get a flag. I understood it immediately and know that I probably shouldn’t have done that.”
Still, Mahomes says complaints about the officiating are overblown.
“I’ve learned that no matter what happens during the game, something is going to come out about it if you win, if you continue to win,” Mahomes said. “I don’t really pay attention to it. Obviously, I’ve been on both sides of it as far as how I’ve felt that calls were made. But at the end of the day, those guys are doing their best to make the best calls and keep it to where the players are making the plays in the game and that’s what decides the outcome. Obviously, there was a call here and there that people didn’t agree with, but at the same time I think there were a lot of other plays that decided the outcome of that football game.”
There’s a perception among many NFL fans that Mahomes and the Chiefs get favorable treatment from the officials, and that will make the officiating closely scrutinized when the Chiefs meet the Bills on Sunday, with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
The NFL has reacted to criticism over perceived errors in officiating from Saturday’s Texans-Chiefs playoff game by making an actual error in punishing a player for saying something he clearly didn’t say.
The league has fined Texans running back Joe Mixon for saying this after the Kansas City win: “Why play the game if every 50/50 call goes with Chiefs. These officials are trash and bias.”
Mixon didn’t say it. The quote is from a tweet included in an SI.com story regarding Mixon’s actual comments after the game.
Said Mixon, “Everybody know how it is playing up here. You can never leave it into the refs hands. The whole world see, man.”
The same article attributes the comment for which Mixon was fined not to Mixon but to former Bengals receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh. (Here’s the tweet.)
Mixon’s actual quote wasn’t mentioned in the fine letter. Presumably, it wasn’t enough to trigger punishment.
Mixon’s agent, Peter Schaffer, tells PFT that he will “defend and appeal” the fine and “will explore all other legal avenues to rectify this situation.”
The immediate answer is simple. The NFL needs to rescind the fine and apologize to Mixon for a mistake more boneheaded than most bad calls.
UPDATE 4:07 p.m. ET: The NFL has now re-issued the fine, removing the thing he didn’t say and inserting the thing he did say.
Cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.'s third season with the Texans was his best as an NFL player and he hopes there are many more years in Houston to come.
Stingley missed 14 games with injuries over his first two seasons, but the third overall pick of the 2022 draft was healthy for the entire 2024 season and his increased availability worked out well. Stingley was voted to the All-Pro team after recording 54 tackles, five interceptions, and 18 passes defensed in the regular season and then picked up two interceptions and a forced fumble in Houston’s playoff win over the Chargers.
It all adds up to a good way to kick off his eligibility for a contract extension that Stingley said he’d welcome.
“Yeah, I want to be here forever,” Stingley said, via Aaron Wilson of KPRC.
While Stingley would be happy to sign a long-term deal, he said he will “be here working out, taking care of me” while letting others handle any discussions about a contract. That approach worked out for him 2024, so it makes sense that Stingley will be running it back.
After a long return by the Chiefs on the opening kickoff of Saturday’s game, Texans cornerback Kris Boyd shoved special teams coach Frank Ross in the chest after picking up a penalty for removing his helmet and throwing it.
Boyd had forced a fumble at the end of the run and initially thought his team recovered it. After the loss to the Chiefs, Boyd explained that the penalty occurred because he “was just too excited” and that he did not mean any “disrespect” to Ross by shoving him. On Monday, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans offered a similar take on the interaction between player and coach.
“I don’t think he was pushing Frank in a disrespectful manner,” Ryans said, via Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press. “I think it was moreso he was fired up -- overly fired up -- and thought he made a play to help us. So that narrative that he’s pushing a coach, that’s incorrect.”
While Ryans excused the push, he also said Boyd has to “remain poised” during games regardless of how excited he might be by what happened on the field.
The Texans picked up wide receiver Stefon Diggs last offseason, but his year was cut short by a torn ACL in Week Eight.
Diggs had 47 catches for 493 yards and three touchdowns before his injury and it remains to be seen if he’ll be back for a second year in Houston. The Texans altered Diggs’s contract to put him on a path to free agency in 2025 and there’s been no sign that the two sides are working on a new deal at the moment.
On Monday, quarterback C.J. Stroud said that he hopes the two sides will come together on a pact that ensures the duo will make more connections in the future.
“That’s my boy,” Stroud said, via Aaron Wilson of KPRC. “I would love to have Stef back. We were just getting started. He was having so much fun. Me and him were starting to build a rapport.”
The Texans also lost Tank Dell to a serious knee injury and he may not be back at all in 2025. That may make finding a way to bring Diggs back to Houston all the more important.
