Texans Sound Off on Officials In ‘Rigged’ Loss to Chiefs

   

The Kansas City Chiefs secured their bid to their seventh straight AFC Championship game with a 23-14 win over the Houston Texans. 

The win was met with controversy, however.

Many Texans players, coaches and fans expressed displeasure with the way the officials handled the matchup. The Texans were whistled for eight penalties for 82 yards, twice as many penalties as the Chiefs, who were only flagged for 29 yards. 

One of the players who was most afflicted by the officiating was linebacker Henry To'oTo'o, who was flagged for the most controversial call of the night with an unnecessary roughness penalty. 

“It makes me mad. But it is, what it is, honestly.” To'oTo'o told reporters.

Multiple Texans spoke about expecting a lopsided officiating crew. head coach DeMeco Ryans tried to express this the best he could without explicitly saying it.

"We knew going into this game that is was us versus everybody. When I say 'everybody' it was EVERYBODY,” said the coach.

Texans running back Joe Mixon echoed his coach's sentiment.

"Everybody know(s) how it is playing up here,” he said. “You can never leave it into the ref's hands. The whole world see, man."

Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, who threw for 245 yards in the contest, expressed frustration with the situation.

"One of those things, you know what's up before you walk into the arena." Stroud said.

"I can't argue with the ref and at the same time play football. I gotta go do my job."

Defensive end Will Anderson didn't play coy like some of his colleagues, the Pro Bowler said it how he saw it.

“We knew it was going to be us versus the refs going into this game,” he said.

Fans shared similar thoughts online. 

"Chiefs never beating the allegations" one added.

There was also concern raised over the Chiefs' last offensive play of the game. On 4th-and-15, the Chiefs lined up to punt, but instead of punting, punter Matt Araiza ran 18 yards backwards and out the side of the end zone, making the score 23-14. 

Some questioned if it was mere coincidence that the Chiefs opted for this strategy, given the spread of -9.5.

The Chiefs will wait to see if they will matchup with the Baltimore Ravens or the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship as the two teams play on Sunday night.