The Kansas City Chiefs‘ 23-14 win over the Houston Texans in the Divisional Round of the 2025 NFL playoffs was marred by controversial officiating, with Clay Martin drawing criticism for a couple of calls that benefitted Patrick Mahomes.
The decisions that sparked the most controversy were two roughing the passer calls. The first one came in the Chiefs‘ second drive of the game, with Martin handing Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. a 15-yard penalty as he deemed there was late contact on Mahomes, who threw an incomplete pass to Travis Kelce on third-and-eight.
Speaking to reporters during the postgame pool report, Martin defended this decision (quotes via Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston): “I had forcible contact to the face mask area, so I went with roughing the passer on that play.”
In the second half, Martin called an even more controversial roughing the passer penalty as Mahomes slid late when two Texans defenders attempted to tackle him latein the third quarter.
Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs is tackled by Azeez Al-Shaair #0 of the Houston Texans during the first quarter in the AFC Divisional Playoff at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on January 18, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Many believe the 15-yard penalty on Henry To’oTo’o was unfair, but Martin stood by his decision: “So, he slid, obviously, and when he slides, he is considered defenseless. The onus is on the defender. I had forcible contact there to the hairline, to the helmet.”
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NFL VP of Officiating defends Martin’s controversial calls on Chiefs-Texans
While the officiating at Arrowhead on Saturday left the Texans and even neutral NFL fans frustrated, Martin has received support from the league, with NFL Senior Vice President of Officiating Walt Anderson defending the aforementioned roughing the passer calls.
During an appearance on NFL GameDay Sunday morning, Anderson explained why the penalty on Anderson was correct: “When the defenders come in and they end up coming in face-to-face, if there’s contact to the head of the quarterback that’s probably going to be called by the officials.
“Now it has to be forcible, and one of the things we added this year is if there’s no contact at all to the helmet replay can assist, but on this play, there was contact. There’s one place in the rulebook that it states by rule that when in doubt, officials are to call roughing the passer.”
Anderson also addressed the second call that gave plenty to talk about, and he once again agreed with Martin’s decision: “When No. 39 comes in and the hairline of his helmet strikes the runner who is already on the ground – that’s a foul. Even if replay assist could help in that, when there’s contact like that, that’s not going to be changed by replay assist.”
Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates with fans after defeating the Houston Texans in the AFC Divisional Playoff at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on January 18, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Texans’ complaints about the officiating in loss to Chiefs
Many Texans players complained about the refereeing after the loss in Kansas City, with Anderson Jr. claiming that Houston felt it would be “us versus the refs” heading into the playoff game, a sentiment echoed by running back Joe Mixon.
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Texans HC DeMeco Ryans made it clear that the Chiefs deserved to win despite the controversial officiating, but he still shared a similar sentiment, even though he also blamed the team’s own mistakes for the loss: “We knew going into this game, man, it was us versus everybody. And when I say everybody, it’s everybody. Knowing that going into this game, what we were up against, we can’t make the mistakes that we made.”
Regardless of the Texans’ complaints, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid firmly praised Ryans and his team. Now, Mahomes and company will be looking to make it to Super Bowl LIX when they welcome Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills to Arrowhead in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday.
