"Referees helping Chiefs, not surprised": NFL world shocked over controversial roughness flag on Texans for hit on Patrick Mahomes

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs often find themselves at the center of controversy regarding officiating. A moment during their divisional round matchup against the Houston Texans on Saturday fueled fan speculation.

On a 3rd-and-8 play midway through the first period, the quarterback tried to find tight end Travis Kelce, who was running a crossing route across the field, to move the chains and keep the drive alive. However, Texans defensive end Will Anderson managed to pressure Mahomes into throwing the ball a tab earlier and with more height than he intended, forcing an incompletion.

Houston's defense was about to jog off the field before one of the officials threw a flag and charged Anderson with a roughing the passer penalty for a late and dangerous hit on the Chiefs quarterback. However, replays suggested that the hit was neither late nor dangerous.

Anderson stood with his hands on hips on the sideline with a look of disbelief as the penalty gave the Chiefs offense 15 free yards and kept the drive alive. Fans on social were as perplexed as the Texans star and called out the referees for being biased toward Mahomes and Kansas City:

Some fans claimed that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wants the Chiefs to advance and has instructed the officials to help them.

"NFL officiating needs to be extensively investigated immediately. Roger Goodell needs to be held liable. You cannot watch a single Chiefs game this year and not help but wonder that something is rotten in Denmark," @reite31765 wrote.

"Should be a 3-3 game but if you got Mahomes you got Goodell so you’re getting that 3-peat. Honestly, I’d root for them to get the 3-peat if it wasn’t for the obvious officiating bias," @MattGrumbrecht said.

"Houston will have to beat the Chiefs, the refs, Goodell, the fans, Vegas, and ESPN tonight," @retiredk9277 said.

The roughing penalty moved the ball from the Chiefs' 33-yard line to near-midfield. Mahomes and the offense drove the ball down to the Texans' eight-yard line, but the visitors' defense stood tall and limited the damage to a field goal that saw the home team take a 6-3 lead.