When you get to the conference championship games, nearly every questionable call is put under a microscope.
In Sunday night’s AFC Championship game between the Chiefs and Bills, the call (or lack thereof) that’s got everyone talking is a punch to the head from Kansas City defensive lineman Chris Jones. In the second quarter, Jones threw a mean right hook to the helmet of Buffalo O-lineman Jon Feliciano.
Despite the blatant punch that sent Feliciano tumbling to the turf, there was no flag on the play.
Had the officials seen this play, it likely would’ve resulted in ejection for the fifth-year DL out of Mississippi State. The loss of Jones would’ve been a significant blow to the Chiefs defensive front. In 2020, the Pro Bowler collected 36 tackles and 7.5 sacks through 15 regular season games.
This wasn’t the only play that had Bills fans upset. Soon after the punch by Chris Jones, Kansas City defensive back Bashaud Breeland participated in some after-the-whistle action during a tackle of Buffalo receiver Stephon Diggs. After the play was blown dead, Breeland picked up Diggs and slammed him into the turf.
Clearly this brand of physical defense is working on the Bills.
After a 9-0 start for Buffalo, the Chiefs defense held Josh Allen and the Bills offense scoreless until they kicked a field goal in the waning seconds of the first half.
Going into halftime, Kansas City leads Buffalo 21-12.