The Kansas City Chiefs on Monday headed off to the locker room at halftime facing a big hole against the Las Vegas Raiders, everything from the big plays to the officiating calls going the way of their longtime American Football Conference West rivals.
One call in particular lit a fire under them.
It was a dubious penalty on Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones for roughing Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, and nobody in the Kansas City locker room could believe it.
Photo: AFP
Rather than stew over it, or lament their 10-point deficit, Patrick Mahomes and the rest of the Chiefs used it as motivation to storm from behind for the 30-29 victory.
“There was anger just about how we had played up to that point,” said Mahomes, who threw four touchdown passes to tight end Travis Kelce. “We needed everybody to go out there and take the fight to them.”
The Raiders still had a chance when Davante Adams, who earlier had hauled in a 58-yard touchdown catch, added a 48-yarder with 4 minutes, 29 seconds to go. It came after Kelce’s final touchdown catch, when Kansas City failed on a two-point try that left the score 30-23.
Rather than kick a tying extra point, Raiders coach Josh McDaniels also went for two.
Josh Jacobs, who had shredded the Chiefs defense all night, was stuffed at the goal line.
The Raiders got the ball back one last time with 2:29 left, and a long third-down pass to Adams down the Kansas City sideline appeared to get them in field-goal range.
However, the play was reviewed and Adams failed to get both feet in bounds, and Carr threw incomplete on fourth-and-one with 47 seconds left before the Chiefs ran out the clock.
“We didn’t fall apart on each other,” Chiefs safety Justin Reid said. “We battled through adversity.”
Carr finished with 241 yards passing, and Jacobs ran for 133 yards and a score, as the Raiders lost to the Chiefs (4-1) for the fourth straight time. Daniel Carlson was three for three on field goals, extending his streak to 38 in a row.
After the game, Jones called for more video reviews, as replays showed that the Pro Bowl defensive tackle cleanly recovered a loose ball from Carr after the tackle, but referee Carl Cheffers threw a flag for roughing the passer.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid stormed off the sideline to argue with every official within earshot, and later cornered Cheffers as they headed to the locker room.
“The quarterback is in the pocket and he’s in a passing posture. He gets full protection of all the aspects of what we give the quarterback in a passing posture,” Cheffers told a pool reporter after the game. “My ruling was the defender landed on him with full body weight. The quarterback is protected from being tackled with full body weight.”
That explanation did not sit well in the Kansas City locker room, especially with Jones.
“It’s costing teams games,” Jones said. “How should I tackle people? How should I not roll on him? I’m trying my best. I’m 325 pounds [147.4kg], OK? What do you want me to do? I’m going full speed trying to get the quarterback.”
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