“Always showing up for Patrick Mahomes”: Bengals fans blast referees over intentional grounding call in 25-17 loss at Arrowhead

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs have clinched their eighth consecutive AFC West division title by defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17. Conversely, the Bengals are out of playoff contention at 8-8.

While the Chiefs won and are guaranteed a home game in the Wild Card Round, football fans are furious about the referees calling intentional grounding on Jake Browning in the fourth quarter. To them, it halted the momentum Cincinnati might have had to take the lead potentially. On first-and-10 from their 25-yard line, the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback attempted a pass with 6:18 left in the fourth quarter. At that point, the Kansas City Chiefs had a 22-17 lead.

However, Browning was tagged for intentional grounding, resulting in a 10-yard penalty and loss of down. But fans argued that Browning threw a pass near running back Joe Mixon’s location. Therefore, they felt it should have been an incomplete pass, not an infraction. That drive resulted in a punt while the Chiefs scored a field goal in their next possession. That shift in momentum in favor of Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs had one Twitter user commenting:

“Terrible intentional grounding call. Once again, the @chiefs get a huge penalty at the end of the game late that has massive effect on the entire drive for Cincy. Completely killed the drive. Pathetic. @NFLOfficiating always showing up for Mahomes” Here are other reactions to the intentional grounding penalty bestowed on Jake Browning.