NFL Football Operations has revealed the official Divisional Round fines from the controversial playoff matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans, and the results were somewhat unexpected.
According to the league’s Gameday Accountability page, a total of three players were fined for actions that occurred during the game — so this does not include any potential postgame infringements — and two of them were Chiefs.
On January 25, it was announced that safeties Justin Reid and Bryan Cook were each penalized by the league for different types of illegal activity. Reid was fined $14,069 for a “violent gesture” (categorized as unsportsmanlike conduct) in quarter four, while Cook was fined $8,443 for a “hip-drop tackle” (which falls under unnecessary roughness) in quarter one.
On the flip side, Houston’s lone in-game forfeiture went to cornerback and special teamer Kris Boyd for removing his helmet on the field of play following the opening kick return by Nikko Remigio. Boyd was fined $8,056 for this unsportsmanlike conduct infringement.
The NFL fined #Texans CB Kris Boyd $8,056 for unsportsmanlike conduct — throwing his helmet after the opening kickoff, leading to a sideline confrontation with special teams coordinator Frank Ross in last week’s playoff loss at Kansas City.
Just to reiterate, these in-game fines do not include any sort of postgame incidents.
Earlier this week, Texans star running back Joe Mixon claimed that the NFL fined him $25,000 for his postgame comments — which were deemed to be too critical of the officiating. Texans star edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. and star quarterback C.J. Stroud made similar comments to reporters, although it’s unclear if either were penalized by the league.
Mixon’s agent Peter Schaffer stated publicly that the running back plans to appeal his fine.
NFL Decides Not to Fine Texans Defenders Will Anderson & Henry To’oTo’o for Hits on Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes
Obviously, there are a couple of notable omissions here by the NFL league office — namely, the two hits on Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes that stirred up all of the controversy on social media in the first place.
“The NFL didn’t fine Texans DE Will Anderson Jr. or LB Henry To’oTo’o for their hits on Patrick Mahomes that yielded controversial penalties in last week’s playoff game,” NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero relayed on X.
Adding: “That isn’t an admission of an officiating error. But neither play rose to the level of a fine.”
Similarly, Mahomes was not fined for embellishing on what some deemed to be a “flop” as he was shoved heading out of bounds.
Mahomes addressed the idea of Kansas City receiving “protection” from the referees on January 22.
NFL Fans React to Chiefs-Texans Fines
As you can imagine, the announcement of these fines — or lack thereof — did very little to settle the ongoing debate between Chiefs Kingdom and all those that oppose them.
The #NFLRigged crowd took the news as an admission of wrongdoing, despite Pelissero specifically stating that the lack of fines “isn’t an admission of an officiating error.” And Chiefs fans dug in on their stance that both hits on Mahomes were penalties, according to the official NFL rulebook.
“Might be a controversial opinion, but if a hit on a QB isn’t worthy of a fine, it likely isn’t worthy of a penalty,” one fan reacted.
Another agreed, commenting: “Soooooo what you’re saying is, probably shouldn’t have been a penalty 🤔🤔🤔.”
On the Chiefs side of the argument, a KC supporter posted a video clip of Mahomes’ helmet absorbing contact from two Texans defenders, reiterating: “No matter how many people want to claim otherwise, this is 100% for sure a foul. The rules are the rules.”
@TomPelissero No matter how many people want to claim otherwise, this is 100% forsure a foul. The rules are the rules
Finally, one fan straddled the line of the debate, stating: “NFL playing it safe with no fines, but those hits were definitely up for debate just another controversial call this season.”
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Chiefs Players Incur More NFL Fines Than Texans After Controversial Playoff Game