The Cincinnati Bengals essentially handed the Kansas City Chiefs a game-winning field goal on Sunday when they were called for a late hit out of bounds, but the Chiefs may have gotten away with a foul of their own on the same play.
The Chiefs had a 3rd-and-4 at the Cincinnati 47 with 17 seconds left and the AFC Championship Game tied 20-20. Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes scrambled to his right after being pressured. Not only did he pick up the first down and go out of bounds, but he also drew a penalty for a late hit by Joseph Ossai (video here).
That penalty occurred with eight seconds left. The 15-yard penalty gave the Chiefs the ball at the Cincinnati 27, putting the Chiefs in field goal range. On the next play, Harrison Butker nailed a 45-yard field goal with three seconds left that put the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs also may have gotten away with a hold on the play. Trey Smith was beaten by BJ Hill and appeared to hold the Bengals defensive tackle, which allowed Mahomes to step up in the pocket and then scramble for the first down.
Sure looked like Trey Hendrickson was getting held to me. #AFCChampionship #CINvsKC #Bengals #Chiefs pic.twitter.com/sFlZd2H38w
— Pierre Noujaim (@TheNoujFOX9) January 30, 2023
You can see another angle below:
Hold or not? pic.twitter.com/XdIOWv2tVJ
— Pete Prisco (@PriscoCBS) January 30, 2023
They say holding could be called on any play in an NFL game, but most fans and teams want consistency. The block by Smith looked very similar to one that was called a hold on Bengals guard Cordell Volson late in the third quarter. That penalty negated a 19-yard reception from Ja’Marr Chase on 3rd-and-7.
The wild part is other fans felt a holding should have been called on a different lineman on the same play.
That is not the only non-call that Bengals fans were furious about. The Chiefs definitely made plays when they had to, but many people feel they got some huge assists from the officials.
