The Chiefs and Bills produced another iconic matchup on Sunday with Josh Allen getting the better of Patrick Mahomes once again—in the NFL regular season, that is.
Buffalo walked away with a 28-21 win over their AFC rivals in a game where Allen looked like a serious MVP contender while Mahomes visibly struggled and made some undesirable career history in the process. Compared to the two teams' previous marquee matchups, this one didn't feature too many controversial calls. Nothing like that very questionable spot in the AFC title game in February, anyway.
In total, the Chiefs had three penalties for 25 yards and the Bills had four penalties for 40 yards, and there were just a handful of calls—and non-calls—that stood out from the Bills' big win.
Here are the five most controversial decisions the refs made in the Chiefs-Bills game:
Patrick Mahomes gets an intentional grounding penalty even though the ball was tipped
For all the talk about how Mahomes and the Chiefs have benefitted from calls in recent history, this moment from the third quarter of Sunday's game suggests otherwise.
Mahomes was trying to find his receiver on the right sideline but his pass was tipped by Bills linebacker Michael Hoecht at the line of scrimmage. Failing to see that tip, the refs penalized Mahomes for what they believed was intentional grounding, despite the Chiefs quarterback and coach Andy Reid's fiery objections.
The game's announcers agreed it was a missed call from the refs and lamented that intentional grounding was not a reviewable play according to the NFL rulebook.
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
Reid and Mahomes both spoke about the missed call after the game:
"I was just trying to explain myself that I was trying to throw it closer to the guy down the field," Mahomes said. "I wasn't going to throw it to him. I was going to burn it, but obviously, they didn't see the ball get tipped. That's just part of the game. You got to move on from it."
And Reid said simply, "I saw a tipped ball. 83 [Noah Gray] was somewhat in the vicinity. That's why I tried to call that [a challenge]."
The intentional grounding penalty backed the Chiefs up to a 3rd-and-16 on their 36-yard line. Mahomes got sacked on the next play and the Chiefs ended up punting on fourth down.
Mahomes gets saved by a holding call that caused some awkwardness in the CBS booth
Mahomes saw some things go his way when the Bills' secondary got called for a hold that CBS announcer Tony Romo didn't seem to know what to make of.
On a 1st-and-10 at Buffalo's 23-yard line, Mahomes got sacked at the line of scrimmage, but the Chiefs offense would get a break as Bills safety Cole Bishop received a defensive holding penalty. That wiped away Mahomes's sack, and led to an awkward moment from Romo:
"You'll see right here, hold and then another hold right there," Romo said on the broadcast, pointing out another potential hold on Bills cornerback Christian Benford. He then started to give his opinion on the call before making a weird noise and falling silent.
Bills secondary called for a hold on this. This takes away a sack on Mahomes pic.twitter.com/zqQlltxaZq
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) November 2, 2025
The Chiefs finished that drive with a touchdown from Rashee Rice to tie the game, 7-7 at the start of the second quarter.
Bills' Dawson Knox was penalized on a soft holding call that took away a 1st down
Later in the second quarter, Bills tight end Dawson Knox was frustrated after he got called for a suspect offensive holding call.
On a 2nd-and-short inching into Chiefs' territory, Bills running back James Cook ripped a seven-yard run to get the first down, but it was called back due to Knox's penalty. Knox appeared to make contact with Chiefs defensive end Charles Omenihu around the line of scrimmage, though it admittedly didn't look like much.
Even Romo pushed back on the call: "You'll see right here, when [Knox] gets down in there... Ooh, I don't necessarily think that was a hold and he doesn't either."
Knox called for a hold and this takes away a 1st down run from James Cook pic.twitter.com/CgU0SrCk0S
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) November 2, 2025
The Bills still managed to score a touchdown on the drive despite the setback from Knox's questionable hold.
Chiefs' Mike Caliendo gets away with a blatant holding call
Speaking of more holds, the Chiefs benefitted from a no-call on what appeared to be a holding penalty on their right guard Mike Caliendo during a play. Late in the first quarter in the Bills' red zone, Mahomes handed the ball off to running back Kareem Hunt, who took advantage of a hole and rushed for a decent gain.
However, a replay video shows Caliendo obviously holding back an incoming Bills rusher who had a straight path to Hunt and could have stopped his run early. No flag was thrown, as the refs likely didn't see it.
Then the next drive:
— Dan Freddy (@BuffaloFreddy) November 2, 2025
Check out their right guard just tackle our run blitzer. #BillsMafia #BillsVSChiefs #NFL #NFLonCBS #ChiefsCheat https://t.co/JGK0V8UbAk pic.twitter.com/K4qYxigh8p
Mahomes takes one of the hardest hits you'll ever see by Bills' A.J. Epenesa
It's rare to see Mahomes on the receiving end of a hard hit and the defender not get penalized for it, with star quarterbacks like him perhaps getting a little more special treatment than most in today's day and age. But, in the second half of the Chiefs' loss, Mahomes was running away from pressure trying to find Rice when he got the wind knocked out of him on a brutal but legal hit by Bills edge rusher A.J. Epenesa.
Epenesa finished with two quarterback hits on the afternoon, one of which was this massive blow on Mahomes that laid him out near the sidelines:
A.J. Epenesa laid a major hit on Patrick Mahomes 😮 pic.twitter.com/a1RRWNcRg0
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) November 2, 2025
No flag thrown? You don't see that every week.
Mahomes was absolutely crushed, but the refs rightfully deemed it a clean hit. The Chiefs quarterback just got back up and didn't bother complaining, either.
The Bills' fearsome pass rush gave Mahomes trouble all game long, pressuring him on over half of his dropbacks; Mahomes went 3-of-16 for 61 yards and one interception when pressured, according to NextGenStats.
With another entertaining Chiefs-Bills matchup in the books, it's good to know that some of their high-profile games can, in fact, play out fairly and feature only a sprinkle of officiating controversy here and there. That said, expect NFL referees to continue to face heavy scrutiny in Chiefs games, especially as the postseason approaches.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Five Controversial Decisions By Refs in Chiefs’ Loss to Bills.
