The Kansas City Chiefs were the beneficiaries of some glaring non-calls during their season opener against the Detroit Lions at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday night. The favorable oversights weren’t enough to help the Chiefs win the contest, as they fell 21-20 to the Lions. The non-calls were enough to turn Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor into a viral talking point.
Taylor was seen getting away with false starts on several snaps. While he was eventually penalized for a false start later in the contest, he managed to elude the referees’ flags on several instances beforehand.
UNFAIR: The #Chiefs offensive line continues to JUMP EARLY before the snap and refs as always somehow ‘just MISS it’
Here is Jawaan Taylor CLEARLY starting early 😳pic.twitter.com/IWBLOlKfNL
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) September 8, 2023
OT’s out there leaving hella early 😂 pic.twitter.com/SQfYZFK3VB
— Will Blackmon (@WillBlackmon) September 8, 2023
The Chiefs right tackle — who is supposed to be one of the team’s seven players positioned at the line of scrimmage before the snap — was lining up well behind the line of scrimmage without being penalized. That gap gave Taylor a clear advantage in trying to contain Lions edge rusher Aiden Hutchinson all game.
NBC's Terry McAulay on Chiefs' RT Jawaan Taylor: "He's really not remotely close, and it's really putting the defensive end at a tremendous disadvantage when you can be that far back."
Taylor appeared well behind the LOS and appeared to start early throughout the game. pic.twitter.com/2UrkTH8bTo
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 8, 2023
Jawaan Taylor is lining up half way to Arkansas and he still can barely contain the Lions edge rush pic.twitter.com/0L7lGC9tK7
— Sam Monson (@SamMonsonNFL) September 8, 2023
Tonight’s script; Jawaan Taylor has diplomatic immunity.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) September 8, 2023
The Lions didn’t let those missed calls faze them. The visitors were still able to overcome all of those missed calls to upset the defending Super Bowl champions on their own home field.
Lions QB Jared Goff is now 2-0 against Patrick Mahomes for his career. The 27-year-old went 22/35 with 253 passing yards and 1 touchdown to help Detroit start the season 1-0.
