It didn’t take long for the first officiating controversy of the NFL Divisional Round to emerge during Saturday’s game between the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs. Houston’s Will Anderson Jr. was penalized for a roughing the passer penalty against Patrick Mahomes, a call neither color analyst Troy Aikman nor rules analyst Russell Yurk agreed with.
The incident occurred with the Chiefs facing a third-and-eight deep in their territory. Mahomes’ pass to Travis Kelce fell incomplete, which would seem to force a fourth down. However, play-by-play announcer Joe Buck quickly noted that a penalty had been called, flagging Anderson for roughing the passer after he pressured Mahomes.
Aikman initially believed the call was correct but changed his mind after seeing the replay. “It looked like it was helmet-to-helmet in real-time and — hmmm,” he remarked. “It’s close. He definitely comes in high. Hard to tell from that angle if it was, in fact, helmet-to-helmet. But that was the call and it gives them a new set of downs.” After a brief stoppage in play, Yurk assessed the situation: “Based on what you saw, it looked like he did come up high with the helmet but it looked like that first contact was to the upper chest area. I didn’t see anything there that supported a foul.”
ESPN rules analyst Russell Yurk: “It looked like that first contact was to the upper chest area. I didn’t see anything there that supported a foul.”
Troy Aikman: “I agree with you, Russell. From that angle there, I don’t see helmet-to-helmet… A big-time penalty.” #NFL pic.twitter.com/xt2nmDPqfg
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 18, 2025
Later in the drive, which resulted in a Kansas City field goal, Buck asked Yurk if the flag could have been picked up after a review. Yurk confirmed that while it was possible for the flag to be picked up, it wouldn’t have been justified in this case.
Russell Yurk also explained why the flag couldn’t be picked up. https://t.co/25FseVUsBL pic.twitter.com/g088Gm9Fjx
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 18, 2025
“Replay can come in and pick up a flag for high contact to the head-and-neck area of a quarterback,” he explained. “But if there’s any contact at all, they can’t pick it up. It looks like there might have been some contact. Even if not forceable enough to be a foul, there’s enough that they can’t pick it up.”
