What’s Tough to Understand About Chiefs’ Penalties

Jaylen Watson had been called for two pass-interference penalties in 11 games this year. Officials on Thursday penalized him twice, including a questionable call on the final Cowboys drive that essentially iced a Dallas win.

Offensive pass interference, too

And Xavier Worthy had been called for three penalties over his entire career, and none this season. His first career offensive pass interference flag – a questionable pick play that looked somewhat like the defender made more contact than Worthy -- erased an all-important first down just after halftime and forced the Chiefs to go three-and-out.

“Yeah, listen,” head coach Andy Reid said after the game, “I'm not always gonna agree with the call, but the calls are made. And I will say that they've got some physical receivers, big, strong, physical guys, and that's the way they were playing.”

Truth be told, the Chiefs have faced plenty of big, strong and physical receivers this season, and there were never seven combined pass-interference flags. Officials on Thursday hit the Chiefs with six of those seven penalties. The only such infraction against Dallas was an offensive pass interference on tight end Jake Ferguson.

The unsettling feeling afterward was that those Dallas receivers, George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb, got away with a lot of contact, too. Lamb finished with 112 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions. Pickens had six grabs for 88 yards.

All seven interference flags came in the final 34 minutes of the game. Both teams got away with a lot of contact over the first two quarters, but the officials suddenly began calling everything as the Chiefs and Cowboys jockeyed for the lead.

“And in return, my guys were fighting,” Reid added, “and to maintain leverage and that. It's just not the way I saw it, but it's the way they saw it, the officials saw it. So, they made the calls. But you got to stay aggressive against those guys. There's no other way to do it.”

Five first downs by penalty

Dallas got five first downs by penalty while the Chiefs received none. Overall, officials walked off 10 penalties against Kansas City and seven against Dallas, although the Chiefs were flagged for the bulk of judgment calls.

One of those was a questionable holding on Josh Simmons with his hands inside the frame. That call came late in the first half with the Chiefs attempting to get in range for a game-tying field goal. Instead, they wound up punting. It was a significant defensive stop for Dallas.

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