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Troy Aikman eviscerates second controversial penalty in favor of Patrick Mahomes, calls for offseason change

Chandler Vesselsby:Chandler Vessels•about 15 hours•

ChandlerVessels

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Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Troy Aikman couldn’t believe the call after Houston Texans linebacker Henry To’oTo’o was flagged for unnecessary roughness after a hit on Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in an AFC Divisional Round playoff game on Saturday.

Mahomes dropped a snap in the third quarter and struggled to get away from pressure, sliding as a pair of Houston defenders closed in on him. Although there appeared to be minimal contact on the play, officials still called the penalty and awarded Kansas City a first down.

Aikman did not hold back on the ESPN broadcast, letting it be known that he didn’t like the call.

“He’s a runner and I could not disagree with that one more,” he said. “He barely gets hit. That’s the second penalty now that’s been called against the Texans.”

ESPN rules analyst Russell Yurk chimed in to say he agreed with Aikman that there should not have been a flag on the play. Aikman then doubled down on his take, calling for the NFL to make a change to the rules.

“They’ve got to address it in the offseason,” he said. “You can’t, as a quarterback, run around and play games with defenders and then be able to draw a penalty.”

The penalty call ended up being a costly one, as the Chiefs would go on to score a touchdown on the drive and go up 20-12. The Texans failed to complete a comeback and lost the game by a score of 23-14.

It was a relatively tame afternoon from Mahomes overall, who finished 16-of-25 passing for 177 yards and a touchdown. Houston held him to the fourth-fewest yards of any game this season and also sacked him three times.

Despite this, Mahomes’ connection with tight end Travis Kelce certainly didn’t take a hit. The pair connected on seven-of-eight targets for 117 yards and the QB’s lone touchdown of the day.

The win advanced the Chiefs to the AFC Championship for the seventh straight season. Kansas City has won the past two Super Bowls and is looking to become the first NFL team to ever win three straight.

They’ll get the winner of Sunday’s game between the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills as they look to advance to the Super Bowl for the fifth time with Mahomes as quarterback.