12th man? Chiefs win over Bengals marred by questionable penalties

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are great. It seems as though every time Mahomes is tasked with a game-winning drive, he comes through. It's just the nature of how great he truly is.

But it also seems that these drives, specifically, are filled with penalties, some more questionable than others. Whether it's a crucial fourth down play or a Patrick Mahomes interception, more often than not, you see a little yellow flag lying somewhere on the field at the conclusion of the play.

This exact scenario sent Cincinnati Bengals fans home pretty upset from their recent contest with the Chiefs. Mahomes' game-winning drive was tainted by the referees, much like other Chiefs games have been in the past.

Chiefs-Bengals ends in referee controversial Kansas City win

On a 4th and 16 play during the last Kansas City drive of the game, Mahomes scrambled out of the pocket and launched the ball down the field to wide receiver Rashee Rice. Bengals defensive back Daijahn Anthony is the Benagls player who makes a play while the ball is in the air. Anthony makes incidental contact with Rice, way before the ball gets to him, resulting in a pass interference penalty.

Take a look for yourself:

Now, there's a ton to unpack here. In this specific instance, I would agree with the referee that this is defensive pass interference, almost exactly by the book.

But, before Mahomes even gets the throw-off, it appears as though Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor gets away with a very blatant hold that allows Mahomes to escape the pocket and deliver the controversial pass. If the hold was rightfully called, it would have been negating penalties rather than the Chiefs getting the ball in field goal range off of a penalty.

Football fans didn't take too kindly to this penalty either, immediately taking to X/Twitter to voice their opinions.

As a big fan of facts and stats rather than emotional propaganda, it's hard to deny the facts that surround this whole idea of the Chiefs' uber-important "12th man" being the referees.

Since 2022, the Chiefs led the league in games played with fewer penalties than their opponent. Mahomes also leads the league in interceptions that are called back due to a flag on the defense.

Mahomes and the Chiefs are good enough to win and win Super Bowls without any help from the referees. Mahomes is a generational quarterback that shows his talent each week that he's out there.

The situation against the Bengals is controversial, specifically with Bengals fans arguing the actual pass interference call. With that call, the refs got it right. Whether the flag came "late" or not doesn't matter, whatsoever. A late flag doesn't mean the penalty didn't occur.

But the facts are pretty compelling that the Chiefs are being given more help from the 12th man than any other team in the league.

You can decide for yourself where you sit on this situation.