Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans was asked about a couple controversial calls that went against his team in Saturday’s AFC divisional round loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and seemingly hinted that the Texans expected that to be the case.
“We knew going in to today, it was us versus everybody,” Ryans said after the game. “And when I say everybody, it’s everybody. All the … whatever, the naysayers, the doubters … everybody.
“With that, knowing going into this game what we were up against, we can’t make the mistakes that we made.”
Quarterback C.J. Stroud added that “it’s one of those things you know what’s up before you even walk in the arena.”
The two particular calls involved hits against Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
The first flag was thrown after Texans pass rusher Will Anderson Jr. appeared to hit Mahomes high on third down late in the first quarter. The ensuing 15-yard roughing the passer penalty extended Kansas City’s drive, which ended with a Harrison Butker field goal to give the Chiefs a 6-3 lead.
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Anderson more directly questioned the officiating after the game, saying: “We knew it was going to be us versus the refs going into this game.”
Referee Clay Martin told the pool reporter that on the Anderson play, “I had forcible contact to the facemark area and so I went with roughing the passer on that play.”
The second was an unnecessary roughness penalty called against Texans linebacker Henry To’oTo’o, who appeared to hit Mahomes as he was giving himself up after a 9-yard gain at the end of a scramble in the third quarter. The Chiefs ended that drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes to Travis Kelce that gave Kansas City a 20-12 lead.
“It makes me mad. But it is what it is, honestly,” To’oTo’o said.
Martin explained that when the quarterback slides, “he is considered defenseless. The onus is on the defender. I had forcible contact there to the hairline, to the helmet.”
Those penalties, coupled with several miscues from the Texans’ special teams unit, were major factors in the loss.
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(Photo: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
