Chiefs penalized for excessive celebration on touchdown that didn’t count

The 1-7 Kansas City Chiefs were penalized in their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night for excessive celebration on a touchdown that didn’t end up counting. I didn’t even know that was possible.

The Steelers had a third-and-seven play from their 26 during the third quarter when backup quarterback Byron Leftwich had the ball come out of his hand as his arm was finishing a throwing motion. Linebacker Justin Houston recovered the ball and ran it into the end zone for a touchdown. The real fun happened when Houston began swaying back and forth in a celebration. He was surrounded by his teammates who formed a little dance circle and joined in on the fun.

Unfortunately for the lowly Chiefs, the scoring play was reviewed and overturned because it was deemed an incomplete pass rather than a fumble. That reversal didn’t stop the referees from penalizing Kansas City 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct, which gave Pittsburgh a first down at the 41.

That’s the sort of thing that really only happens to 1-7 teams. On the bright side, Kansas City finally claimed its first lead during regulation of a game. It only took them until Week 10. Congrats fellas!

And on a previous play in the third quarter, Dwayne Bowe took a pass to the end zone and showed the ball to the defender in a taunting move. That play came back because of a holding call, but could have easily been penalized as well.

The Kansas City Chiefs: much better at celebrations than actually getting the ball into the end zone.