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3 hours ago
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The NFL divisional round started off with a dud of a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans, where one-sided penalties and bias were more of a conversation than the game itself.
The Chiefs were on the favorable end of several calls, including a roughing the passer call that led to three points for Kansas City and an unnecessary roughness call on a slide where Patrick Mahomes wasn't hit gave the Chiefs 15 free yards. Referee Clay Martin was asked about the calls after the game.
"I had forcible contact to the facemask area and so I went with roughing the passer on that play," Martin said on the roughing the passer play.
He also answered for the other controversial call.
"When he slides, he is considered defenseless," Martin said. "The onus is on the defender. I had forcible contact there to the hairline, to the helmet.”
The penalties were inexcusable and simple replay would have been able to show the calls were improper and could have led to both being overturned. The NFL has the ability to fix this, and it's an avenue they need to explore this offseason.
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