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The dramatic AFC Championship between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills included two officiating storylines that were the talk of the NFL world during the game and one that was a bit more underappreciated.
Patrick Mahomes’ touchdown run in the second quarter saw a penalty come flying at the end of the play. Bills safety Damar Hamlin tried to tackle Mahomes before he reached the end zone but was unsuccessful.
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Mahomes’ momentum carried him and Hamlin a few more yards before the quarterback was tackled. Travis Kelce came over and gave Hamlin a few extra words after the touchdown. It wasn’t clear what the tight end said.
Bills defensive lineman Jordan Phillips came over in defense of Hamlin and got into the Chiefs star’s grill. Kelce flailed backward and Phillips was called for a penalty.
Tony Romo, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback-turned-CBS broadcaster, noticed it and called Kelce out.
“Kelce knows how to get under your skin,” Romo said. “And Phillips comes in … [Kelce] tries for the flop.”
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The controversial calls around the Chiefs have become a theme of their playoff run so far. Two questionable penalties were called on the Houston Texans in the Chiefs’ divisional round win, and Mahomes tried for a third when he flailed out of bounds after a run.
Mahomes admitted he went a little too far to try to draw a flag.
“I would say that the only one I felt like I probably did too much was the one on the sideline where I didn’t get a flag and the ref saw it and didn’t throw a flag, and I understood it immediately,” he said in a radio interview last week.
“But at the same time, the one that everybody’s talking about where I fell down, it’s like I was just trying to get out of the way of getting smoked by the defensive lineman running in.
“So, I’ll try to keep doing that and not take those hits because that’s the smart way to stay in the football game.”
All eyes will be on the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX when they play the Philadelphia Eagles on Feb. 9.
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