Despite holding an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Kansas City Chiefs suffered their second loss of the season, falling 28-24 to the Denver Broncos in Week 8. The game turned on a late false start penalty on Chiefs right tackle Jaylon Moore, and the debate over that call followed Kansas City into the locker room.

With a chance to win the game at the Broncos’ 1-yard line and four seconds remaining, the Chiefs seemed headed for a last-second victory. Kansas City lined up in shotgun, the clock winding down before the snap.

Breaking down the false start call on Chiefs RT Jaylen Moore

Before the snap, Moore turned his head to look back at the quarterback. The ball was snapped, but officials threw a flag for a false start.

Players can be called for a false start for exaggerated movement or movement that simulates the snap. Turning your head to look back at the quarterback isn’t illegal, and it isn’t a false start on its own. Lower-body movement, or anything that signals the snap is imminent, would draw the flag.

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Looking back at the play, Moore’s right foot moves slightly. His heel appears to rock back, just as he turns left to look at the quarterback. A Broncos outside linebacker pointed out the motion, and the officials called the penalty.

The flag moved the Chiefs back five yards and created a fourth-and-6. The game ended on a 6-yard loss when Denver sacked Patrick Mahomes, and Kansas City left Mile High with a loss.

Chiefs HC Andy Reid says he didn’t see the false start

After the game, reporters pressed Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, Mahomes, and Moore on whether they felt the play was a false start.

“I didn’t see it, but that’s one man’s opinion,” Reid said. “I saw him move his head, but I didn’t see a false start.”

Reid said he simply didn’t see one. He saw the head movement, but nothing beyond that. He later clarified that his eyes caught the head movement only briefly before he moved on. From there, he focused on the defense and the secondary. He wanted to be ready to adjust the play, make another call, or decide on the extra point if the Chiefs scored a touchdown.

“Yeah, I saw him move his head a little bit,” Reid said. “Now my eyes went off after that, so, you know, I’m looking at the right what’s set up with a secondary and everything else. So I didn’t see anything else move.”

Reid might feel differently after he re-watches the play on tape. For now, he’s standing behind what he saw on the field. That could carry consequences, as coaches can be penalized for criticizing officials.

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes explains why perfection is necessary in that moment

Mahomes also hadn’t reviewed the play on film, but I’m not sure he’d have a much different opinion even after watching the tape. He believes that in crucial moments, a team simply has to be perfect, because officials will call even the slightest thing.

“I have not seen it, but it didn’t catch me,” Mahomes said. “Like it didn’t surprise me or catch me or anything like that. So, it couldn’t have been big, but it was called. I mean, at the end of the day, you have to go with whatever’s called. But a lot of times in those big moments, the little stuff doesn’t get called like that.”

When an offensive lineman commits a big or blatant false start, Mahomes typically reacts to it himself, and the play gets blown dead. This wasn’t that kind of situation. The movement was much more subtle.

Chiefs RT Jaylon Moore takes accountability for the false start

As for the player flagged on the play, Moore insisted he has to review the film before he knows whether it was a false start. As for the player flagged on the play, Moore insisted he has to review the film before he knows whether it was a false start.

“I mean, I got to go back and look at it,” Moore said, via FOX 4 Kansas City’s Harold R. Kuntz. “I just gotta get a chance to look at it, but regardless, just got to be better.”

Asked whether he thought the flag was on him in that moment, Moore didn’t provide an answer. He said there’s no use dwelling on it, and all he can do is learn from it and be better.

“Just got to look at the tape,” Moore said, via The Athletic’s Jesse Newell. “It was called. There’s nothing else we can do about it now. So, it was on me. Just got to be better about it.”

Chiefs face a Week 9 test against the New York Jets

That’s the mentality the entire Chiefs roster will try to carry into its Week 9 game against the New York Jets. Kansas City is on a two-game losing skid, with losses to the reigning Super Bowl champions and the defending AFC West champion Broncos.

The introspection will center on a hard reality. Right now, the Chiefs aren’t where they need to be if they plan to reach the playoffs and compete.

Moore’s false start was Kansas City’s 11th penalty of the game. That flag wasn’t the reason the Chiefs lost, and neither was any other individual penalty. The sheer volume of them says more about what the Chiefs need to clean up, especially unforced errors like false starts, before facing the Jets.