The New England Patriots lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 23-16 Sunday Evening, but the loss was not the main talking point for many fans after the game. After a great first drive for the Patriots, one that resulted in a 37-yard flea-flicker touchdown pass to Julian Edelman, I was hopeful for the remainder of the game. Unfortunately, the Patriots offense stalled in 4 out of the 6 of their next drives, with Tom Brady throwing an interception on the first play in one of them. Their two good drives ended in a Nick Folk field goal being blocked, and a turnover on downs when Brady’s pass to Edelman falling incomplete on 4th and 7. The defense had a shaky second quarter but was able to hold Kansas City to a field goal at the end of the half, and at the beginning of the 3rd quarter, keeping the game in reach at 23-7. The Patriots got a jolt of energy when they blocked a Chief punt and got the ball inside the Red Zone on the Kansas City 19 yard line. They were able to cash in with a Brandon Bolden 10 yard touchdown. The Patriots elected to go for the 2 point conversion to try and cut the Chiefs lead to 23-15, which would make the game a one score game, but failed to convert, and were down 10.

At 23-13 chaos ensued. After the Chiefs got 3 years on back to back plays, the Patriots tried to get off the field on 3rd and 4. A Patrick Mahomes pass to Sammy Watkins looked like a first down on the CBS broadcast, and the referees seemed to agree, although with a more generous spot further down the field. However, on second glance with the replays CBS provided, Watkins looked like he was just barely short, and Belichick seemed to agree, throwing the red challenge flag. With a more extensive showing of the replays, Watkins looked short to me and CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore seemed unable to give his opinion on the play. Different replays showed him that Watkins could have been short, or that he could have made it. The refs went with the call on the field, which wasn’t terrible, as the evidence that Watkins was short was probably inconclusive.

A few plays later, Mahomes passed the ball to Travis Kelce who caught the ball near the first down maker but ran backwards to avoid being tackled. Devin McCourty punched the ball out and Stephon Gilmore recovered and it looked like he had a sure touchdown with no Chiefs in between him and the end zone. The referees, however, believed that Kelce was down or had made forward progress and blew the whistle as Gilmore was running towards the end zone.

Here’s where it gets bad. The Patriots challenged the call and it was reversed, giving the Patriots the ball, which was a good thing, if only for the fact that by blowing the whistle on an obvious fumble the refs took a touchdown away from the Patriots. Earlier this season, the expectation was changed from blowing the whistle on these potential fumble plays, to allowing the play to continue and then afterwards reviewing the play to stop taking away potential scores. I guess the refs in the Pats game just threw that out the window.

I wouldn’t be complaining about this call if the Patriots drove down the field and scored a touchdown. Which is what should have happened. From the Kansas City 15 yard line, Brady passed to N’Keal Harry who tiptoed the sideline and dove for the pylon. The ball crossed the plane and it seemed to me that he scored. However, the referees talked and agreed that Harry stepped out of bounds at the 3, much to my chagrin. When CBS showed the replay, though, it was crystal clear that he didn’t step out of bounds, and you could see a lot of grass in between his foot and the sideline. The fact that two referees were able to agree that he stepped out of bounds is ridiculous, when every single person knew that he scored. In fact, why not call it a touchdown, because if all scoring plays are reviewed and you weren’t so sure he made it, the review would confirm it. The Patriots couldn’t challenge it due to some previous bad officiating, and no official review was triggered. The Patriots drive stalled and they had to kick a field goal, making the score 23-16.

Now, I’m not usually one to blame referees for losses, and that’s not what I’m doing now, it was the offense being stagnant that really was the culprit, but these few calls were just absolutely ridiculous, and changed the outcome of the game. By not calling the Harry play a touchdown, the Patriots needed a touchdown instead of a field goal on their final drive. Because of this, the Patriots had to go for the touchdown on 4th and goal and were ultimately stopped, giving the Chiefs the win. If the Patriots only needed a field goal, however, they’d have been able to kick a chip shot one to tie the game. I would have been content with losing the game, if we had tied it up and given Mahomes the ball back with too much time, leading to a game winning field goal for the Chiefs. That wasn’t the case though, as the referees essentially took two touchdowns off the board for the Patriots, dictating how the Patriots played their final drive.

The NFL seriously needs to look at the problem they have with the refereeing in the league. It wasn’t only the Chiefs who benefitted from calls or no calls. Mahomes was thrown out of bounds by a lineman on the Patriots (I can’t remember who), and no Unnecessary Roughness penalty was called, in a clear situation. They took a stride in giving the coaches the power to challenge Pass Interference calls, but I think one or two challenges have been successful. If the NFL were trying to reform the way PI calls were being called, they have epically failed, along with the terrible calls we saw this weekend. I wouldn’t be surprised if this officiating crew got the Super Bowl job.

FINAL:

Chiefs 23 - Patriots 16