The Cincinnati Bengals fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in a thrilling AFC title game showdown on Sunday night after a crucial late hit out of bounds penalty put the Chiefs in position for a game-winning field goal in the closing seconds. But as one NFL insider points out, that personal foul penalty should have been offset by a holding penalty on the Chiefs.
As league insider Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk pointed out on Monday morning, Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson was blatantly held by Chiefs tackle Orlando Brown on the play which allowed Mahomes to scramble out of the pocket. The hold should have been flagged, and it would have led to offsetting penalties and a replayed down.
Does it look like Trey Hendrickson was held two times on this play? pic.twitter.com/SpeRFePIiM
— Faux Joey Brrr (@FauxJeaux) January 30, 2023
Florio blasted the officiating and the league’s insistence on bending the rules to benefit the star quarterbacks.
“It happens too often to be brushed off as gross incompetence,” Florio wrote. “Between consistent failures to call holding and a rash of tackles starting into their pass-block set a split second before the snap without being called for illegal procedure, officials are making it easier for quarterbacks to operate by balancing out the simple fact that, currently, defensive linemen are bigger, faster, and/or stronger than the men trying to stop them from hitting the quarterback.”
Earlier this season, a league executive essentially admitted that the league was willing to do whatever it takes to protect the NFL’s star quarterbacks – including more roughing-the-passer penalties – even if those decisions aren’t popular with fans. So this shouldn’t really come as a surprise.
