The Houston Texans fell short against the Kansas City Chiefs in their Divisional Round matchup on Saturday, losing 23-14 despite outgaining the Chiefs by over 100 yards. After the game, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans addressed the glaring issue of questionable calls that favored Kansas City. Notably, the Chiefs were penalized just four times for 29 yards, while the Texans faced eight penalties resulting in 82 yards.
ESPN analyst Troy Aikman, who was calling the game alongside Joe Buck, took issue with two specific penalties. Both were calls on hits against Patrick Mahomes: a roughing the passer in the first quarter leading to a field goal, and an unnecessary roughness in the third quarter resulting in a Chiefs touchdown. These decisions became focal points in postgame discussions, even though it’s likely the Chiefs may have secured a win regardless.
After the game, Ryans commented on the officiating without directly criticizing the referees. He indicated that they were aware they were against “everybody” in this matchup. “We knew going into this game it was us versus everybody,” Ryans stated, as reported by Chancellor Johnson of KPCR 2 in Houston. “Knowing what we were up against, we can’t make the mistakes that we made.”
DeMeco Ryans when asked about some of the questionable calls:
“We knew going into this game it was going to be us vs *everybody*. When I say everybody. It’s EVERYBODY”
He made sure to note his team simply didn’t do enough to win the game. pic.twitter.com/4ShZA7qOVD
— Chancellor Johnson (@ChancellorTV) January 19, 2025
As Ryans pointed out, the loss was not solely due to questionable officiating; the Texans also allowed eight sacks, which significantly contributed to their defeat. While the penalties are difficult to overlook, they are just part of the larger narrative of the game.
