One blown call cost the Titans more than just the game vs the Chiefs
With the help of one of the worst calls of the season, the Kansas City Chiefs (6-2) managed to outlast the Tennessee Titans (5-3) by the score of 20-17 in a thrilling overtime showdown. It’s been a brutal season for NFL officiating crews. They’ve come under fire for blowing roughing the passer penalties, and are […]
With the help of one of the worst calls of the season, the Kansas City Chiefs (6-2) managed to outlast the Tennessee Titans (5-3) by the score of 20-17 in a thrilling overtime showdown.
It’s been a brutal season for NFL officiating crews. They’ve come under fire for blowing roughing the passer penalties, and are once again in the spotlight after a blatant missed call which led to a gut-wrenching Titans loss.
Interestingly enough, the two most egregious misses of the season helped league darlings in Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs to sneak away with greasy wins against teams in smaller markets.
Mahomes and his Chiefs offense marched down the field to score a touchdown with 3:06 left in the fourth quarter. The touchdown pulled Kansas City within two points of the Titans at 17-15.
After offsetting penalties forced the Chiefs to retry the game-tying two-point conversion attempt, Titans defensive back Josh Kalu was flagged for holding Kelce in the back of the endzone.
After examining the replay, it was clear that Kalu was not the aggressor. Instead, Kelce latched onto Kalu in an attempt to create separation, knocking the helmet off of his head in the process.
Titans head coach Mike Vrabel was asked about the call after the game:
“They’ve let Travis play like that. Flop and hope you get a call, I guess. You’re asking the wrong guy. Twitter handles that, NFL Officiating they can answer any question,” Vrabel added with a sense of sarcasm.
Remember that it was Vrabel who made headlines for an email in which he called out the NFL’s officiating ahead of Week 6. Here we are in Week 9 and it’s Vrabel’s Titans that get the short end of the stick.
With a win, the Titans would have sat atop the AFC alongside the Buffalo Bills at 6-2. Though Buffalo currently holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Tennessee, the Titans would've been in the driver's seat for the No. 2 seed with a one-game lead and the head-to-head win over Kansas City.
The Titans had no business taking the Chiefs to overtime in their own house. But for such an immaculate defensive effort to go to waste because NFL officials still can’t get the obvious calls right is incredibly frustrating.
Sweet league, Roger.
Featured image via George Walker IV / Tennessean.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
