Like many NFL games, Thursday’s included questionable calls made and not made. One specific call that wasn’t made robbed the Chiefs of a chance to finish the game with an unforgettable moment.
After the Chargers converted a two-point conversion to take the lead with four seconds left, Chargers players stormed the field. In the middle of the scrum, quarterback Philip Rivers can be seen waving at his teammates to get off the field before a flag is thrown.
But enough already had happened for a flag to be thrown. No flag, however, was thrown.
“There is some leniency when a few players from the bench gather to celebrate in the end zone after a score but the massive number of players that entered the field after this play should not have been ignored,” former NFL referee and Sunday Night Football rules analyst Terry McAulay told PFT via text message regarding the failure of the officials to impose a 15-yard penalty on the Chargers.
So what would have happened if the rules had been applied as written? The Chargers would have kicked from their own 20, creating an opportunity to down the ball in a spot that would have allowed quarterback Patrick Mahomes to launch a missile to the end zone or spark a Dolphins-type cavalcade of laterals aimed at trying to steal a win.
The chances of it working would have been very, very slim. But the Chiefs should have had a chance to do what Miami did only five days ago.