Dave Portnoy accuses NFL referees of ‘cheating’ as Chiefs benefit from controversial call in Texans playoff game
Dave Portnoy has led the online fury over a controversial refereeing decision in favor of the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday night.
The Chiefs beat the Houston Texans in the Divisional round of the NFL playoffs, with Patrick Mahomes aiming to lead his team to an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl this season.
And during their battle with the Texans, Mahomes benefited from an early roughing-the-passer call which sparked outrage on social media.
Midway through the first quarter at Arrowhead – where Travis Kelce’s girlfriend Taylor Swift is watching on from the stands – Texans defender Will Anderson Jr was penalized for a tackle on the Kansas City quarterback a split-second after he released the ball.
Portnoy was one of many left furious with the decision to penalize Anderson, accusing NFL referees of ‘cheating’ at Arrowhead.
‘The good news is the Texans are dominating and their defense is flying around. The bad news is the refs are cheating and they are losing,’ the Barstool founder wrote on X.
Dave Portnoy (left) has led the online fury after a controversial call in favor of Patrick Mahomes
A number of users agreed with Portnoy, including one who posted a clip of Anderson’s tackle on Mahomes and said: ‘THE #NFL IS SO RIGGED FOR THE #CHIEFS! A bulls*** roughing the passer penalty against the #Texans for a PICTURE PERFECT TACKLE against Precious Patrick #Mahomes.
‘Ridiculous! The NFL is scripted and UNWATCHABLE!’
Another argued: ‘When will the NFL learn that what they are doing for the Mahomes/Chiefs and what they did for [Tom] Brady/Patriots only infuriates football fans. No one wants to watch refs giving every call to a player or team. That’s not football!’
‘Apparently if you sneeze on Mahomes you get a penalty. Unreal,’ a third commented sarcastically.
‘You can find this 1,000 times with other quarterbacks this year wear it was not called. Only mahomes,’ said another.
While one simply put: ‘That’s ridiculous.’
ESPN analyst Jason Kelce, whose brother Travis is playing for the Chiefs on Saturday night, also described the roughing-the-passer call as ‘questionable’.
Portnoy was also left seething with another controversial decision in Mahomes’ favor later in the game, which saw the Texans penalized for unnecessary roughness on Kansas City’s star quarterback.
Fans were left equally furious with the roughing-the-passer call in the Chiefs-Texans game
He posted a clip of the tackle which led to the call and wrote: ‘THIS LEAGUE IS DISGUSTING!!!!’
Commentator Troy Aikman also said about the unnecessary roughness call: ‘Oh, come on! I mean, he’s a runner. I could not disagree with that one more. He barely gets hit.’
Another user also highlighted a ‘hip drop tackle’ from Chiefs safety Bryan Cook that went unpunished during the first quarter of Saturday’s game while accusing referees of favoring the hosts.
‘You’re not gonna see a more clear “hip drop tackle” but of course no flag because it’s the Kansas City Chiefs,’ they wrote.
A second fan asked: ‘So this textbook hip drop tackle on the Texans first possession wasn’t called but Will Anderson gets called for roughing for breathing on Mahomes?? Make it make sense’.
A third then concluded: ‘The chiefs playoff favoritism is in full effect’.
