Unintentional Intentional Grounding: Anatomy of Critical Missed Call

“Yeah, I saw a tipped ball,” head coach Andy Reid said after the game, noting he didn’t realize Michael Hoecht’s deflection was immune to replay review.

Very few others were aware, either, including longtime CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore.

“It’s very unique, Jim,” Steratore told Jim Nantz as Cheffers was administering the play. “We know that you can review a pass interference if the ball is tipped. In this scenario, Hoecht definitely touches that pass , and we see a receiver breaking to an area that looks like Patrick Mahomes is throwing to.

“I don’t see why we would not be able to review something there, because where this football lands is related directly to the fact that the ball got tipped. So, in the area that gets moved around now because of the tipped ball, and I think that’s what Andy is pleading to Carl Cheffers right now.”

Making his case

Reid was making his case because the Chiefs were down only 21-13 with six minutes left in the third quarter. On the play, Mahomes dropped back on second-and-6 from his own 44-yard line. Rookie Deone Walker got quick pressure, forcing the quarterback up in the pocket.

Xavier Worthy in motion ran a deep route down the right sideline and Mahomes threw in his direction. But the ball fell far from the speedy receiver.

Officials huddled for a few seconds after the incompletion before Cheffers fired his flag at the Chiefs’ huddle. With Cheffers in mid-announcement, CBS cameras showed Hoecht actually tipped the ball – which should’ve eliminated intentional grounding.

Reid’s eyes in the sky caught it immediately, and the coach stopped play by sending his red challenge flag onto the field. After a heated discussion on the Chiefs’ sideline with Reid, the referee made another announcement, explaining the 10-yard penalty and loss of down would stand.

A judgment call that should be reviewable

“It's a judgment call, and it's not reviewable,” Mahomes said after the game. “There's nothing you can really do about it.

“I was just trying to explain, myself, that I was trying to throw it closer to the guy down the field. I wasn’t going to throw it to him. I was gonna burn it. But obviously they didn't see the ball get tipped. But that's part of the game, you know. You gotta move on from it.”

The NFL may not move on from it. Making a play like that reviewable makes too much sense.

Kansas City is no stranger to difficult-to-officiate plays at critical junctures. After a 20-17 loss to the Eagles in Week 2, during which multiple Tush Push snaps showed Philadelphia players moving prior to the snap, the league threw salt in the Chiefs’ wounds 24 hours later.

The inability to properly officiate the Tush Push likely has the play’s head on a chopping block when owners meet at the annual league meeting in March. It avoided death by only two votes this past offseason.

Josh Allen got a few rear-end nudges on his two rushing touchdowns Sunday.

The Chiefs, who helped change NFL overtime rules following the memorable 13-second game between Kansas City and Buffalo in the 2021 playoffs, might’ve played another such game Sunday. In a new era of replay assist, quickly correcting an official’s error, there’s really no reason a play like that shouldn’t be included.

“Yeah, with the intentional grounding,” Steratore said. “You know, Jim, I’ve been around for almost 30 years in this business, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen a play like that. My question would be, though, if you’re throwing the ball in the area of a player and tipped football changed that, I would like for it to be reviewable, if it’s not in fact at this point.”