{"id":194519,"date":"2025-10-07T02:30:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T02:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/194519\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T02:30:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T02:30:07","slug":"former-nfl-qb-defends-patrick-mahomes-chiefs-on-controversial-td-play-vs-jaguars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/194519\/","title":{"rendered":"Former NFL QB Defends Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs on Controversial TD Play vs. Jaguars"},"content":{"rendered":"

It didn’t take long for last year’s officiating controversy<\/a> surrounding Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to surface again in the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> that the Chiefs didn’t do anything wrong, and after some deliberation, the refs picked up the flag and ruled it a fair touchdown.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“You get 1 yard from Line of Scrimmage to contact defender and not have OPI\u2026 you can even block the guy if you wanted to, so in this case I think it\u2019s a legal play & TD!” Warner wrote on social media.<\/p>\n

You get 1 yard from Line of Scrimmage to contact defender and not have OPI\u2026 you can even block the guy if you wanted to, so in this case I think it\u2019s a legal play & TD! https:\/\/t.co\/5qKCg53RLg<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Kurt Warner (@kurt13warner) October 7, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

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:<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Darius Butler (@DariusJButler) October 7, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

The ESPN announcers were more hesitant about the refs’ final ruling, however. ESPN rules analyst Russell Yurk thought the officials got this call wrong<\/a>, and the Chiefs’ first touchdown of the game should have been wiped off the board.<\/p>\n

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