Chiefs think Texans player flopped to get official’s call

Tyreek Hill and the Chiefs believed they had a kickoff return touchdown in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game at Houston.

A day later the Chiefs still believe it was a touchdown, or at least coach Andy Reid disagreed with the holding penalty that wiped out what would have been a 105-yard return.

A touchdown there would have pulled the Chiefs to within three with about three minutes remaining.

Instead, the score remained 19-9. The drive concluded with Cairo Santos kicking his fourth field goal with 52 seconds remaining, which cut the margin to a touchdown. But the Chiefs didn’t get the ball back and lost 19-12.

“There were some individuals on our team that played well,” Reid said. “Tyreek and his return … if it was basketball it probably would have ruled as a flop.”

The penalty was called against Steven Nelson, who blocked the Texans’ Charles James. James then fell over Nelson, and that’s where Reid believed the poor call was made.

“(James) knew he was outflanked, so he literally flopped,” Reid said. “Nelson put his hands out, put him down and the kid just jumped into his body. Obviously from the officials’ perspective it didn’t look like that.”

A touchdown would have made a big day for Hill even bigger. He averaged 27.7 yards per kickoff return and 15.8 yards per punt return and made a tackle on punt coverage.

Possession regression — Last season, opponents recovered seven Chiefs fumbles. Only the Dolphins had a lower number. That’s what made Sunday’s three-fumble performance by the Chiefs so alarming.

“It was uncharacteristic,” Reid said. “I was seeing things that I was not used to seeing.”

Alex Smith was credited with two fumbles. One was the ball snapped over his head by center Mitch Morse and the second was a sack and strip. Running back Spencer Ware also fumbled for the first time as an NFL player. All occurred in the first half.

“To even think you still had a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter tells you a little bit,” Reid said. “We need to take care of the football.”

There’s more…

“We need to keep ourselves onside. Eliminate the holding calls. These things you can control. These are things we’re normally very good that we can affect if we come in with the right mindset.”

This story was originally published September 19, 2016 at 5:48 PM with the headline "Chiefs think Texans player flopped to get official’s call."