With 4:29 left in the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s Kansas City Chiefs-New York Jets game, it looked as if Patrick Mahomes had thrown his third interception of the contest to cornerback Michael Carter. As the Chiefs were up 23-20, this was a major turn of events.
Then, referee Alex Kemp came busting in with the opinion that cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner had committed defensive holding on receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Kemp didn’t help matters by mis-identifying Gardner as No. 11 when Gardner wears No. 1 (11 is Valdes-Scantling’s number), and then, when you look at the play itself… well, it’s highly suspect.
This should have been Mahomes 3rd INT of the game.
The refs ruled this defensive holding. Atrocious call. pic.twitter.com/4gyKTJ5oad
— Pats Buzz (@PatsBuzz) October 2, 2023
That call gave the Chiefs first-and-10 at the Jets’ 35-yard line, and they were able to run out most of the clock for the narrow victory. Jets head coach Robert Saleh was ear-holing Kemp and his crew until the game ended, and he got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty which ran out the rest of the clock.
Hard to blame Saleh for feeling that way.