This one didn’t help calm the “Chiefs get all the calls” narrative.
Kansas City used a controversial non-call Sunday night to escape with a 22-17 road win over the Falcons, just one week after a late pass interference set up a game-winning field goal against the Bengals.
The Chiefs (3-0) appeared to get away with a pass interference on tight end Kyle Pitts in the end zone on a third-and-5 with less than five minutes to go while nursing a five-point lead.
Falcons coach Raheem Morris seemed quite tiffed with the referees’ inaction.
“I like my money,” Morris said. “I like my money that Arthur Blank gives me. I’m very smart enough to be aware enough to talk about officials. They made the call or they didn’t make the call, it is what it is. We had a chance to win the football game on the last play of the game.”
The back-to-back champion Chiefs are in that territory where they’re believed to be benefactors of each call, with plenty of notable flags or non-flags going their way in recent years.
The fourth-down defensive pass interference in Week 2 allowed them to avoid an upset and this non-call saved them from another upset Sunday, although the Falcons had other chances to win.
With the Falcons at the Chiefs’ six-yard line with a little more than four minutes remaining, quarterback Kirk Cousins lofted a pass to Pitts in the end zone.
As Pitts came back to the ball, Chiefs safety Bryan Cook clearly got a hand around Pitts’ waist and made contact before the ball arrived.
Pitts could not corral the pass, and the Falcons ultimately turned the ball over on downs.
“That is a real-time call that officials have to make a judgment on,” referee Tra Blake said in a pool report, according to NFL Network. “From the angle that they had at the time, they did not feel there was a foul committed.”
He added: “We do the best we can to make that decision.”
Cousins wished he could have a do-over while referencing how there potentially could have been a flag.
“I didn’t have a good viewpoint on it,” Cousins said. “It was tough. … In hindsight, if I could have the play over again, I either would have gotten to Kyle earlier or if were to get to him as late as I did, put the ball up higher and to not even really put it in the refs’ hands at that point.”
The Falcons (1-2) still had a chance to win the game on their ensuing drive when they drove the ball to the Chiefs’ 13-yard line, but back-to-back runs for zero and minus-three yards ended that drive.
Fans took to X to share their displeasure with the call, especially since it benefitted the Chiefs.
One fan wrote: “Kyle Pitts gets bear hugged during this catch attempt and the refs still don’t call a penalty for Pass Interference. I can’t make this clear enough, the Chiefs PAY the refs to WIN.”
Another commented: “Every primetime chiefs game has a play like that pass interference on pitts that they benefit from. the first game of the year, their defensive coordinator was allowed to call a timeout for some reason.”
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