Cue up those “Referees love the Chiefs” tweets.
Travis Kelce appeared to get away with a blatant hold on Patrick Mahomes’ 15-yard touchdown in the first quarter of Monday’s 31-10 win over the Broncos.
Kelce clearly got both hands on Talanoa Hufanga and drove him to the ground to prevent the safety from going to his left to tackle Mahomes, clearing the path for the Chiefs to grab a 7-0 lead.
“Travis Kelce may have gotten away with a hold,” ESPN’s Troy Aikman said during the “Monday Night Football” broadcast.
The Chiefs have long been viewed as receiving generous refereeing and this call Monday certainly seems like an easy one for the zebras to make.
On second-and-goal at the Broncos’ 15-yard line, Mahomes dropped back but tucked the ball and scrambled up the middle when the pocket collapsed.
Two Broncos defenders attempted to meet him before the goal line, with Kelce grabbing a good hold of Hufanga to move him out of the way.
That left Mahomes on a collision course with safety Brandon Jones and the Chiefs quarterback dove face-first into the end zone for the score.
Without Kelce interfering with Hufanga, the Broncos certainly would have had a better chance of stopping Mahomes from scoring and setting up a pivotal third down.
ESPN rules analyst Russell Yurk agreed with Aikman that Kelce got away with one.
“You can see Travis puts his left arm out and restricts over the chest of the defender trying to make the tackle and that prevents him from really being able to get there,” Yurk said.
“He wasn’t in position, restricted him. I think it’s tough for the officials to see.”
The Chiefs did not trail for the remainder of the game in their convincing win over the reigning AFC West champs and conference No. 1 seed.
Kelce led all pass-catchers with 71 yards on three catch, with 59 coming on a third-and-6 in the third quarter in which made one defender miss and then ran to the Broncos’ 5-yard line.
Kansas City turned the lengthy reception into field goal to take a 24-10 lead.
Kelce also had an awkward pregame interaction during which he slapped away the hand of a fan who attempted to grab his gloves.
