The Chiefs still don’t understand why officials picked up a penalty thrown for defensive pass interference on the Texans.
Referee Shawn Hochuli made an announcement after waving off the flag, “After discussion, the contact that was potentially a hold was while the ball was in the air. It is not pass interference because it was not on the receiver that caught the ball.”
Texans safety Tashaun Gipson’s interception in the end zone stood.
But tight end Travis Kelce, whom quarterback Patrick Mahomes insists was the intended receiver, was the player held on the play. Kelce was supposed to fake an out route before running a fly but was impeded before he could get there, Mahomes, Kelce and Andy Reid argued afterward.
“The play was designed where Kelce was doing a double move, and I was letting him work it, knowing it was man coverage,” Mahomes said, via Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star. “I saw him getting ready to do his move. I went to throw it to the spot and give him a chance. He wasn’t there. After you looked at it, you realize he kind of got tackled, so that’s the reason he wasn’t there.”
Kelce said the team received no further explanation from Hochuli or his crew, leaving them befuddled.
Reid said officials “gave me an explanation” when asked if they gave him an explanation that “made sense.”
“We were trying to get an explanation from the referee of why they picked up the flag and what was the reasoning,” Mahomes said. “They said I had thrown the ball when he was getting held, which it’s a rule [that] if it’s uncatchable, you can’t call pass interference. But . . . him running the double move was the reason he fell down, and it was uncatchable. It shook me.”