Was it an interception, fumble or sack?
The New England Patriots were on the wrong end of a brutal officiating mistake during the second quarter of their game Monday against the Kansas City Chiefs.
During the play, edge rusher Chase Winovich wrapped up Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes on third down. New England’s Shiquile Calhoun ended up with the ball in his hands on what should have been ruled an interception, or a fumble at the very least.
The officials, however, not only ruled the play dead, canceling Calhoun’s interception return, but actually ruled that Winovich had sacked Mahomes, leading to the whistle. Head coach Bill Belichick, who was irate as soon as he heard the whistle, likely didn’t know it was ruled a sack, and instead believed the refs would give the Patriots the ball at the spot of the turnover.
That was not the case, and the Chiefs snapped the ball and punted to New England before the Patriots were able to challenge the play.
Here’s the play:
Patriots safety Patrick Chung, who opted out of the season, reacted to the egregious error.
And the rest of Twitter was not far behind:
The officials have a knack for making terrible calls during a Patriots-Chiefs game, and you don’t have to look back any further than 2019 at Gillette Stadium.