Bengals legend accuses NFL of rigging games in favor of Chiefs - "Why play the game if we know results beforehand?"
Cincinnati Bengals legend T. J. Houshmandzadeh went after NFL officiating after the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Bengals on the back of a controversial defensive pass interference call.
With Kansas City trailing 25-23, Trey Hendrickson put Patrick Mahomes under pressure on a third down. Cincinnati got a penalty after Hendrickson was stopped illegally from reaching the passer. That led to a 4th-and-16 situation.
With the clock already within the two-minute warning, Andy Reid had to go for it. They were out of field goal range and needed something extraordinary.
That came in the next play despite Patrick Mahomes failing to complete his pass downfield. However, the referees called defensive pass interference on Daijahn Anthony for seemingly bumping into the offensive player from behind on a catchable ball.
The call was debatable and others also thought there should have been a holding call on offense in the backfield, which could have resulted in offsetting penalties.
T. J. Houshmandzadeh certainly thought it was a poor call and accused the NFL of scripting results. He wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter,
"Give every game to the Chiefs rest of season. Refs in their favor every game. Why play the game if we know results beforehand?"
Chiefs and Bengals going in different directions after latest result
The Chiefs might or might not have been lucky with the calls but there is no denying that there were things the Bengals could have done better. Joe Burrow played well, but a fumble that was returned for a touchdown was a game-changing moment. So was a missed extra-point conversion.
With this result now in the book, Kansas City improved to 2-0. The Chiefs have beaten the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati, two teams expected to provide stern competition. The Chiefs are well set as they try to become the first team in the Super Bowl era to win three consecutive titles.
Meanwhile, the Bengals have continued their tradition of starting slowly. Their loss against the New England Patriots, one of the weakest teams in the league this year, was inexplicable. At 0-2, they are already two games behind the Pittsburgh Steelers, who lead the AFC North.