Rage bait? You know NFL officiating is bad when a Chiefs star complains about it

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes quelled concerns about his high ankle sprain with a 27-19 victory over the Houston Texans in Week 16.

The Chiefs are now two games into their grueling stretch of three games in 11 days, and they’ve escaped with wins in both contests. Once again, Kansas City won the game by not beating themselves. Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud made costly mistakes at the most inopportune times, and an overall sloppy performance ultimately sunk the team.

The Texans finished with 12 fewer offensive plays than Kansas City, but still managed to get penalized four more times than the Chiefs. The Texans were penalized six times for 45 yards, but Chiefs safety Justin Reid believes they should’ve received at least one more yellow flag.

Chiefs safety upset NFL fans by complaining about a missed penalty

After the game, Reid posted a photo from the game on his Instagram story that appears to show a Texans player with his arm wrapped around Reid’s neck.

“This s--- gotta be holding,” Reid captioned the Instagram post.

Although fans typically sympathize with players when it comes to criticizing officiating, fans balked at the notion of a Chiefs player complaining about missed calls. The never-ending success of the reigning Super Bowl champions has caused many fans to question the NFL’s officiating and levy accusations of favoritism for Kansas City.

There is a penalty on nearly every offensive snap in the NFL, and most of them go uncalled. The extra attention given to luck and penalties is a common side effect that ails all dynasties. The New England Patriots dealt with it for nearly two decades, but Tom Brady did not win seven Super Bowls on two different teams by being lucky. At first glance, it’s easy to dismiss Kansas City’s success as luck. In reality, the Chiefs — like the Patriots — have won by being the more disciplined team.

The Chiefs are ranked No. 13 with a penalty differential of 59 yards, per The Football Database. Although they’ve committed the fifth-fewest penalties (82) this season, they rank No. 16 in penalty yards lost (724). Kansas City’s opponents have been penalized 98 times, ninth-most in the NFL. Still, those opponents have only lost a combined 783 penalty yards, which ranks No. 14 among all teams.

Kansas City’s luck has been the byproduct of head coach Andy Reid putting his players in situations to win the game, while other teams frequently put themselves in losing situations.

Still, Kansas City’s performance has left a lot to be desired despite their nearly-unblemished record. Their win over the Texans marked their 11th one-score victory this season, and it was only the fourth time they’ve outscored their opponent by more than seven points. Five of Kansas City’s victories were won by three-or-fewer points, including four of their last six wins. All 14 of the Chiefs’ victories have been won with 30-or-fewer points scored, breaking a single-season NFL record that has stood since 1925, per NFL Research.

Many of the Chiefs wins have come down to the small details. Kansas City has escaped with narrow victories due to late-game penalties, game-winning field goals as time expired, a blocked game-winning field goal attempt and a botched snap. Was it luck, favoritism or discipline? Ultimately, the disagreements on the subject will only grow louder as Kansas City continues to win at this pace.