Jason Kelce takes shots at Raiders center for fumble that gifted Chiefs the win
The Chiefs won their AFC West matchup against the Raiders and Jason Kelce could not help but comment on the way Kansas City won the game. After a blocked field goal handed the reigning Super Bowl champions a victory against the Broncos some weeks back, this was another win where the opposition imploded at a crucial moment late in the game.
With the score 19-17 to the Chiefs, the Raiders had the ball in field goal range but decided to run another play to take the ball closer to the posts. Las Vegas kicker Daniel Carlson had earlier missed three attempts from over 50 yards, so it made sense. However, the center Andre James snapped the ball when Aidan O'Connell was still getting set, causing it to hit him and fall on the ground as the Chiefs recovered the fumble with 11 seconds remaining.
The scrutiny immediately fell on the center who had decided to snap the ball when his quarterback was not ready. Jason Kelce, who played the position with such distinction in his career, commented he did not miss having hung up his cleats after seeing what transpired. He wrote on X/Twitter,
"It’s times like this I don’t miss playing center"
Spotlight on refs for Chiefs' win even as Jason Kelce empathizes with Raiders' center
While Jason Kelce had comments about the Raiders' center, many NFL observers on social media felt that the player had not made a mistake and the referees sided with the Chiefs to hand them the win. The reigning Super Bowl champions became the first team to clinch a playoff spot this season after this victory.
It looked like the play had been blown dead for an illegal shift on Las Vegas before the fumble was recovered by Kansas City. An official even entered the pitch to stop the clock from running. Based on one interpretation, that should have been a penalty on the Raiders but they would have retained possession of the ball.
However, the referees ruled that the play was not dead and the clock stopped only after the ball was turned over. That allowed Andy Reid to choose to decline the penalty and secure the win.
It was the second straight day that a conference top seed had won against the bottom team in their division after the latter imploded in their final play. The Bears lost to the Lions in their NFC North matchup on Thanksgiving Day after failing to call a timeout on their last possession.