Whether or not Xavier Worthy made the catch on the second quarter move that appeared to hit the bottom after he wrestled it away from a Payments defender will depend on who’s answering the query.
The choice was the primary main name that went the Chiefs’ approach within the AFC Championship recreation between Buffalo and Kansas Metropolis at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday.
Late within the first half, quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw up a deep move into protection that seemed prefer it was going to be picked by Payments security Cole Bishop, nevertheless, one way or the other Worthy ended up developing with the ball.
Whereas the feat was spectacular, it wasn’t with out controversy because the ball appeared to hit the bottom with out Worthy – or Bishop who was nonetheless combating for possession as they got here down – having full possession of the of the ball.
After a evaluate, the refs dominated that it had been a catch by Worthy placing the Chiefs on the 6-yard line.
In keeping with the NFL rule e-book, “If a move is caught concurrently by two eligible opponents, and each gamers retain it, the ball belongs to the passers. It’s not a simultaneous catch if a participant beneficial properties management first and an opponent subsequently beneficial properties joint management. If the ball is muffed after simultaneous touching by two such gamers, all of the gamers of the passing workforce develop into eligible to catch the free ball.”
Any hope of an interception would have been negated anyway since Damar Hamlin had been known as for a holding on the play.
Like something involving the Chiefs, there’s certain to be conspiracy theories galore.
The play allowed the Chiefs to simply rating moments later to increase their result in 21-10 on the time.
The complete play appeared to befuddle the CBS broadcast crew calling the sport.
“That ball hits…I can see it trigger you may’t utterly say no, however that ball hits (the bottom),” analyst Tony Romo stated struggling to make sense of what he was seeing.
And soccer followers watching at residence certainly didn’t appear to agree with the ruling that it had been a catch.
“Chiefs may’ve been bailed out once more…” one particular person wrote on X.
“Apparently, if you happen to play for the Chiefs, you’re allowed to catch it off of the bottom with a hand on prime, and it nonetheless counts. No different workforce will get this name,” one other particular person chimed in.
“The NFL is a humiliation for calling this a catch. so unbelievably rigged for you guys to win each single time,” a 3rd particular person wrote.
Mahomes ended up capping the drive with a 1-yard scramble for a landing to present the Chiefs a 21-10 with 1:44 to go within the first half.