The defender admitted after the game that he was holding the jersey and hoped it wouldn’t get called. Bad luck that the WR he defended happened to be the primary target, so all eyes were on him.
Plus, most of the other ticky-tacky calls (Chiefs getting a fumble return for a TD after knocking it out of the receiver’s hands; that got overturned into an incomplete pass. Eagles’ WR getting a 3rd down catch that was bobbled right as he went out of bounds; after review, it was upheld instead of being overruled as an incomplete pass) that night went the Eagles’ way, so blaming this outcome entirely on the referees is — for once — uncalled for. Blame the Eagles’ pass rush for not sacking Mahomes once, or their defense for not showing up in the 2nd half when the Chiefs went on a tear.
I imagine that if the Chiefs had gone for a go-ahead touchdown, leaving 1:30+ on the clock for the Eagles to have some decent chance of coming back, it probably wouldn’t feel the same. But no: Andy Reid played mercilessly with the clock, as their WR intentionally slid down instead of going for the touchdown. It was definitely a very low-energy way (and some might say unsatisfying) to end it...but if you’ve got an accurate kicker, it was absolutely the smart way to end it so your opponent’s high-powered offense has as little time as possible to respond.
Those weren't "calls". ie; no flags were thrown. They were "rulings", that HAD to be made. Either in, or out.. catch, or no catch. I think they were all made correctly. All were close, yes. But, eventually, the correct call was made. The only one they got wrong IMO (and the opinion of the retired ref on the broadcast) was when they over-turned the call of "catch" on the field for Devonta Smith's incredible long catch on the sideline.
There were hardly ANY penalty flags thrown in the game last night. I saw plenty of holding, by BOTH teams. None were called.. until, it was THE deciding factor in the game.
I imagine that if the Chiefs had gone for a go-ahead touchdown, leaving 1:30+ on the clock for the Eagles to have some decent chance of coming back,
Not sure I get your point here? Without the holding call, it would have been 4th and 8, with 1:40 left, in a tie game. I don't know what Andy would have done. But, I suspect he would have kicked a FG.
That would have given Philly the ball, with ~ 1:30 left, no timeouts, needing a FG to tie, a TD to win. That would have been excting to see play out. Probably,KC still wins? But, it would be a MUCH BETTER outcome.