The Chiefs visited the Bills on Sunday in what has become one of the most entertaining regular season matchups the NFL can offer. Patrick Mahomes versus Josh Allen always promises great theater and even better quarterback play. They delivered over the first two quarters or so, with both superstars showing off their best traits—Mahomes with his rocket arm and Allen with his dual threat versatility. But the results mostly tilted Buffalo’s way as the Bills were up 28-13 after three quarters.
They did benefit from a big call against Mahomes and Kansas City, though. The Chiefs had the ball halfway through the third quarter down by eight points to the Bills and were facing a second down. Mahomes dropped back to pass and tried to find tight end Robert Tonyan near the right sideline. However the pass was tipped at the line by Bills linebacker Michael Hoecht. The ball barely fluttered past the line of scrimmage and fell incomplete.
But the officials flagged Mahomes for intentional grounding, despite the ball getting tipped. It knocked the Chiefs back 10 yards and cost them a down. Kansas City’s entire roster was both baffled and angry about the play and coach Andy Reid tried to challenge it. But, according to how the rules are written, intentional grounding is not a reviewable play, even though the ball getting tipped should change the call.
CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore sided with the Chiefs on the matter, explaining why the “unique” call should not have been intentional grounding and that he wants the rule to be changed so it can be reviewed under these specific circumstances.
Gene Steratore has never seen something like this in his career:
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 2, 2025
Intentional grounding was called on Patrick Mahomes here, but the referees failed to see that the ball was tipped at the line of scrimmage. Andy Reid attempted to challenge the ruling on the field, only to be told… pic.twitter.com/NWeWynyoRG
“In this scenario, Hoecht definitely touches that pass. We see a receiver breaking to an area it looks like Patrick Mahomes is throwing to. I don’t see why we would not be able to review something there because where this football lands is related directly to the fact that the ball got tipped, so the area gets moved around because of a tipped ball.”
When head ref Carl Cheffers made the announcement that there were “no reviewable aspects of the play,” Steratore further sided with the Chiefs and voiced his disagreement.
“I’ve been around for almost 30 years in this business, this is the first time that I’ve seen a play like that... I would like it to be reviewable if that’s not at this point.”
“It certainly is a miss,” Jim Nantz agreed on the CBS broadcast.
A stroke of luck for Buffalo and a bad break for Mahomes. It could have happened in a more pivotal moment, to be sure; the call killed the Chiefs’ drive but they’ll have a few more chances yet to cut into the Bills’ lead. It is just unfortunate to see the officiating play such a role in what should be an exciting contest between the two best quarterbacks in football.
The fourth quarter began with the Bills holding a 28-21 lead over the Chiefs. We’ll see if the above call comes back to bite Kansas City.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as CBS Rules Analyst Sides With Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs on ‘Unique’ Call That Benefits Bills.
