The Patriots’ defense forced a Patrick Mahomes turnover late in the second quarter tonight, but the officials blew the call.
On a third down, New England’s Chase Winovich hit Patrick Mahomes and the ball came out and was caught in the air by New England’s Shilique Calhoun. It wasn’t immediately clear whether Mahomes was throwing a forward pass or had the ball knocked out for a fumble, but it didn’t matter: Calhoun had grabbed the ball out of the air and was running down the field.
But then the officials blew the play dead. They ruled Mahomes’ forward progress had been stopped and he was in the grasp for a sack. That was a bad call; Mahomes was still moving forward and trying to escape Winovich’s grasp when the ball came out.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick was furious at the bad call and began screaming at the officials, but Chiefs coach Andy Reid wisely got the punt team on the field quickly, before Belichick could challenge, and punted on the next play.
The Patriots got the ball back at their own 20-yard line, but if the play had been called correctly, Calhoun’s return would have given New England the ball in Chiefs territory. It was a big miss by the officials, and Belichick was right to be angry.