This incident didn't help quiet the “Chiefs will get all the calls” rumors.
Kansas City took advantage of a controversial no-call to escape with a 22-17 victory over the Falcons on the road on Sunday night, just a week after a late pass interference call led to a game-winning field goal against the Bengals.
The Chiefs (3-0) held a five-point lead with under five minutes left and appeared to escape when tight end Kyle Pitts committed a pass interference in the end zone on third down and five yards.
Falcons coach Raheem Morris seemed pretty upset about the officiating inaction.
“I like money.” Morris said“I like the money Arthur Blank gave me. I'm smart enough to talk about the refereeing. Whether the referee made the call or not, it all depends on the outcome. On the last play of the game, we had a chance to win the football game.”
The back-to-back Chiefs have had a number of notable flags and non-flags to their advantage in recent years and are in territory where they are considered to be benefiting from each call.
A defensive pass interference on fourth down in Week 2 prevented them from an upset, and this no-call prevented them from another one on Sunday, but the Falcons had other chances to win.
With just over four minutes left and the Falcons at the Chiefs' 6-yard line, quarterback Kirk Cousins fired a pass to Pitts in the end zone.
As Pitts returned to the ball, Chiefs safety Brian Cook apparently put his hands around Pitts' waist and made contact before the ball reached him.
Pitts was unable to catch the pass and the Falcons ultimately lost the ball on downs.
“That's a real-time call the umpire has to make,” umpire Tora Blake said in the pool report. According to NFL Network“The way they looked at it at the time, it didn't feel like there was a foul.”
“We are doing our best to make that decision,” he added.
Cousins noted the potential flag and wished he could have done it over again.
“I didn't have a good view of it,” Cousins said, “It was tough. … Looking back, if I could do the play over again, I would have gotten to Kyle sooner, and if I had gotten to him later, I would have gotten the ball higher and wouldn't have put the ball in the umpire's hands at that point.”
The Falcons (1-2) still had a chance to win the game by getting the ball to the Chiefs' 13-yard line on their next drive, but consecutive zero and minus-three yards ended that drive.
Fans took their displeasure with the call to X, especially since it was in favor of the Chiefs.
One fan wrote:“Kyle Pitts was hugged hard while trying to make a catch, and the refs didn't call a pass interference penalty. Quite frankly, the Chiefs are paying the refs to help them win.”
Another comment“In every Chiefs primetime game, there's a play like pass interference against Pitts that the Chiefs benefit from. In the first game of the year, for some reason the Chiefs defensive coordinator was allowed to take a timeout.”
