It somehow wasn't the strangest end to a Thanksgiving weekend game, that Kansas City Chiefs survived a Black Friday scare against division rivals Las Vegas Raiders thanks to a combination of bizarre play and a perhaps even more bizarre penalty decision.
With just 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Raiders shot the ball to the Chiefs' 32-yard line on second play. In the following game, middle Jackson Powers Johnson grabbed the ball in front of the middle Aidan O'Connell was ready, the ball hit the ground and the Chiefs recovered it.
After the ball was recovered, it appeared as if the game had actually been over due to a false start penalty. But after officials deliberated for a while, that penalty was instead converted to an illegal postponement, which the Chiefs rejected. They kept the ball and knelt on it to end the game rather than having to defend another snap after a false start, which would have cleared the fumble since it was a pre-snap penalty.
After the game, the explained why the piece was regulated the way it was.
“If the clock had run down to the point, an illegal substitution would result in a false start by rule,” said a league spokesman. via The Athletic. “Because the clock was stopped (peak on second down play), an illegal shift is a live-ball foul.”
Surely this explanation will satisfy any conspiracy theorists who are convinced that the league is just giving the Chiefs calls (and wins), so there is no cause for concern on that front.
