The Miami Dolphins had everyone in the NFL paying attention on Sunday for a surprising reason — they were hanging right with the Kansas City Chiefs.
That’s when the refs found their penalty flag to help the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes at the perfect time for Kansas City, and a brutal moment for Miami.
The Chiefs were holding just a 14-10 lead late in the third quarter when Mahomes dropped back on third-and-9 from Kansas City’s own 5.
The play ended in a roughing the passer penalty that bailed out the Chiefs and led to points.
Dolphins’ Controversial Roughing Penalty on Mahomes
Mahomes was looking over the middle to throw to Rashee Rice.
The pass fell incomplete, but that’s when the flag was noticed on the field.
Chop Robinson had gotten a clean rush toward Mahomes, and he tried to bring down the QB.
With the ball gone, Robinson went straight down on Mahomes. The pass rusher did a good job to keep his arms from driving Mahomes into the ground.
The flag was thrown anyway.
Conceptually, the call has to do with Robinson’s body weight landing on Mahomes.
It’s also hard to see what Robinson could’ve done here:
Yet another NFL defender forgets to carefully tuck a quarterback into bed, turn on a nightlight and vanish in thin air mid-sack. pic.twitter.com/WyMIDNxU5v
— Tyler Dunne (@TyDunne) September 27, 2026
Penalty Costs Dolphins Points
This wasn’t the end of the sequence, of course.
That was a third down, and the Chiefs would’ve been punting if not for the flag.
Instead, it was a 15-yard gain and a first down.
The Chiefs then drove the length of the field before stalling out on goal-to-go.
Kansas City eventually settled for a 34-yard Harrison Butker field goal.
That put Kansas City up 17-10 with 11:35 to play in the game.
If the Chiefs go on to win, most people won’t bat an eye. They’re supposed to beat the Dolphins.
But Miami’s fans will know that if this call hadn’t gone in Mahomes’ favor, the game could’ve worked differently. Field position, and the score, would’ve been so differentm.
The NFL protects its QBs, though, especially superstars like Mahomes. And so in this moment, Robinson and the Dolphins got the short end of the stick. It could cost them a chance at their first win of the season.
Dolphins Called for Controversial Roughing the Passer Penalty on Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes