NFL Twitter Melts Down After Referees Award Chiefs Extra Play

It wouldn’t be an NFL playoff weekend without some controversy, now would it?

The Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals were at the forefront of controversy this time around, as the officials assigned to their AFC Championship matchup appeared to just hand KC an extra play late in a tie game.

Yes, they actually gave them a do-over.

Kansas City sent its punt unit out onto the field early in the fourth quarter, ready to send it away after going three-and-out. The Chiefs thought they were punting. The Bengals thought they were punting. The fans at Arrowhead Stadium thought they were punting. The referees disagreed.

Ron Torbert, the head official for the matchup, got on the house microphone to explain that the Chiefs would not be punting, as the referees blew the previous play dead but allowed it to play out in its entirety. Naturally, NFL Twitter exploded.

While the referees technically got the call right, allowing both teams to take the field expecting a punt before getting control of the situation was enough to send fans into a frenzy.