Chiefs defender calls out Texans for string of embarrassing officiating comments after AFC divisional round loss
The Houston Texans lost 23-14 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC divisional round of the playoffs, but instead of taking accountability, some of their players are crying foul about officiating. There's an unfounded narrative surrounding the Chiefs and officiating in the NFL. Don't believe me? Just check out this unbiased data-driven breakdown from […]
The Houston Texans lost 23-14 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC divisional round of the playoffs, but instead of taking accountability, some of their players are crying foul about officiating.
There's an unfounded narrative surrounding the Chiefs and officiating in the NFL. Don't believe me? Just check out this unbiased data-driven breakdown from this NFL content creator and New York Jets fan, Adam Chernoff.
After the loss, many Texans players made it clear they believe there is some sort of Chiefs-related NFL officiating bias.
"We knew it was going to be us versus the refs going into this game," Texans OLB Will Anderson Jr. said.
Anderson Jr. was called for a head-to-head contact roughing the passer penalty during the game, one that ESPN's Joe Buck and Troy Aikman took exception to. But by the letter of the law, making forcible contact with the head and neck area of a quarterback is illegal in the NFL.
"Everybody knows how it is playing up here. You can never leave it into the refs hands," Texans RB Joe Mixon said. "The whole world sees what it is."
Even Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans used the same excuse.
"We knew going into this game that it was us versus everybody," he said when asked about officiating.
He, of course, cleaned it up afterward, probably because he didn't want to get fined.
Chiefs CB Jaylen Watson took exception to the comments coming out of the Texans' locker room after the game. He took his thoughts to social media to comment on what was happening.
"I miss when grown men took they losses like a man a new day and age though," Watson wrote on X.
Watson doesn't expressly mention the Texans or any players by name, but we all know exactly what he's talking about here. He has plenty of reason to be upset by the comments, which cheapen the achievements both teams accomplished by simply making it to the AFC divisional round. It's a privilege to play and compete in these games, and Houston should be proud of its performance, even if things didn't go their way.
But at the end of the day, talk is cheap. The Chiefs play in the AFC Championship Game next week, and the Texans don't, and it's not because of officiating. It's because Kansas City is the better team. They practiced effectively and made more plays when it mattered the most. Maybe if Houston had been less worried about officiating heading into this game, they would've had a better chance to win.
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