dq. NFL BREAKING NEWS: Referee Faces Backlash After Controversial Calls in Chiefs vs. Jaguars Showdown
Following the Kansas City Chiefs’ loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday, the refs are under fire, and Andy Reid has something to say.
The Kansas City Chiefs are off to a very rocky start for the 2025-26 NFL season, and that was exasperated during the team’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday, 28-31. The Chiefs were favored to win this road game, but instead, they left the Sunshine State with a 2-3 record.
For a team that’s used to winning championship after championship, a 2-3 to start the season is simply not a happy place. But, there were some bright moments, and tight end Travis Kelce had a fantastic game against the Jaguars. Kelce notched the most all-purpose yards in the history of the Kansas City Chiefs‘ franchise early in the game, again showing that this guy is unstoppable.
With every NFL game comes some controversy, this time around, even Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid expressed that he wasn’t happy about some of the refs’ decisions during Monday’s game. Following the matchup, he spoke to the media and gave his thoughts on how things went down on the field.
Reid wasn’t happy after the loss to the Jags, especially when it came to all the penalties the Chiefs got called for in the game. After the game, he made his thoughts clear.
“We had 13 penalties, to their four,” Reid said during his NFL postgame press conference. “Whether I agree with them or don’t agree with them, it doesn’t matter. They called them.”
Reid added, “So, you have that many penalties, you give up field position, you can out stat them to death, but that doesn’t matter. It’s the score that matters.”
In every NFL game, there are going to be good and bad calls on both sides. But, when those games are are high-profile as Monday’s matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars, that’s even more so the case. The refs have a difficult job, and nobody is ever really happy with the outcome.
Kelce and Patrick Mahomes were are the center of a little controversy on Monday. Mahomes and Chiefs had the ball on the two-yard line early in the game. Mahomes snapped the ball, and Kelce got it heading across the goal line. The refs threw a threw a penalty flag over a possible offensive pass interference from JuJu Smith-Schuster, but they ended up picking up the flag after a conversation of sorts with Mahomes.
Viewers were quick to jump on the situation, and some of them thought that Kelce’s touchdown shouldn’t have been good.
“Mahomes crying to the refs to pick up the flag and they do,” one said on X. Don’t ever tell me he isn’t the golden boy of the NFL ever again.
“And the refs pick up the flag against KC again. What a joke,” another said.
In Mahomes and Kelce’s defense, some viewers sided with them and said that it wouldn’t have been a fair call. “Learn the rules,” one said to a skeptic on X who implied that Mahomes talked the refs into getting rid of the flag. “He (meaning Mahomes) IS the Golden Boy. And he is a great,” another said.
Meanwhile, Taylor Swift, who’s engaged to Kelce, wasn’t at the game. She rarely attends away games, due to security concerns, and Swift is also busy promoting her new album, “The Life of a Showgirl.” Of course, Kelce is the subject of quite a few lines on her new album, especially in the song “Wood,” which is about her relationship with the NFL player.
Anne Erickson is an award-winning reporter for Heavy Sports covering the NFL, NBA and college football. Anne Erickson has years of experience covering the NFL and additional sports, and her work has been published via ESPN, Fox Sports and more. She has interviewed some of the biggest names in sports, including Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff. Erickson also hosts several podcasts and is a Detroit-based radio host. More about Anne Erickson
