It didn't take long for last year's officiating controversy surrounding Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to surface again in the 2025 season.
In the first quarter of Monday's game against the Jaguars, Mahomes found Travis Kelce on two-yard touchdown pass, but a flag was thrown for offensive pass interference immediately following the play. Mahomes appeared to plead with the officials that the Chiefs didn't do anything wrong, and after some deliberation, the refs picked up the flag and ruled it a fair touchdown.
The source of controversy on the play involves the NFL's pick rule, which states that offensive players are allowed to block a defender as much as they want within one yard from the line of scrimmage. In this case, it was Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster who blocked a Jags defender to free up Kelce for the score.
While fans debated whether Schuster was within the one-yard buffer or not, former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner offered his strong support for Mahomes and believed it was a completely legal play.
"You get 1 yard from Line of Scrimmage to contact defender and not have OPI… you can even block the guy if you wanted to, so in this case I think it’s a legal play & TD!" Warner wrote on social media.
You get 1 yard from Line of Scrimmage to contact defender and not have OPI… you can even block the guy if you wanted to, so in this case I think it’s a legal play & TD! https://t.co/5qKCg53RLg
— Kurt Warner (@kurt13warner) October 7, 2025
ESPN analyst Darius Butler also sided with Warner, pointing to an overhead shot that clearly showed Smith-Schuster made contact with his defender within one yard of the line of scrimmage:
Juju started off the ball. Definitely a legal pick play. Was tough to see from the first replay. EASY to see from this shot! pic.twitter.com/0pl7X3Y9NX
— Darius Butler (@DariusJButler) October 7, 2025
The ESPN announcers were more hesitant about the refs' final ruling, however. ESPN rules analyst Russell Yurk thought the officials got this call wrong, and the Chiefs' first touchdown of the game should have been wiped off the board.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Former NFL QB Defends Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs on Controversial TD Play vs. Jaguars.
