The Kansas City Chiefs are no strangers to controversial officiating. But this year, they’ve found themselves on the wrong end of it. Their Thanksgiving matchup against the Dallas Cowboys was the latest example, with Xavier Worthy being called for offensive pass interference, a call that many argued was unjustified, as it appeared to be merely him running his route. And now, offensive coordinator Matt Nagy has echoed that sentiment, but with a little more context behind it.

“We talked to the guys this week, and I would tell them to do nothing,” Nagy said after admitting that the refs indeed have a tough job. “I mean, he’s (Worthy) literally running his route, and the defender initiated the contact and ran into him. So, if we called that 10 more times, I would tell Xavier do it 10 more times, run the play the way you did because you did it the right way. You were running your route.”

Things unraveled early in the third quarter, right after the Chiefs opened with a big kick return and set up shop at their own 46. On third down, Patrick Mahomes hit Hollywood Brown for what looked like a clean 14-yard conversion. But a highly questionable OPI flag on Xavier Worthy wiped it out.

Officials said he set an illegal pick, but the replay looked more like routine route traffic than a designed block. As a result, instead of a first down in Cowboys territory, Kansas City was backed up to third-and-16, punted a few plays later, and didn’t score again until the fourth, eventually leading to a 31-28 loss to Dallas.

Since then, the officiating crew has been under fire, and Chiefs OC has joined the chorus, pointing out that Worthy was simply running his route and the defender initiated the contact. But beyond this one controversial flag, penalties have been a season-long anchor for Kansas City. A big reason their year hasn’t looked nearly as smooth as it should.

Penalties, a recurring issue for the Chiefs in 2025

Against the Cowboys in Week 13, the Chiefs were flagged 10 times for 119 yards. Another week, another loss, another game buried under penalties, and another moment where Andy Reid stepped up to the podium and delivered his most-used line of the season: “We need to clean things up.” Penalties were a big part of what he meant, and you can tell why.

“The guys understand we’ve got to clean up a few things,” the head coach said after the Cowboys’ loss. “We’ve got to do better as coaches, and we’ve got to do better as players. So you go back to the drawing board and you keep working; that’s what you do. We were close here, but we had too many opportunities that we gave away. You can’t be two good teams playing each other and have those things happen.”

The Chiefs have been hit with at least ten penalties in four different games this season. And they’ve gone 0–4 in those matchups. Put it this way: Kansas City has racked up 86 penalties for 753 yards, averaging 7.17 flags and 62.8 yards a game. In terms of rankings, their 7.2 penalties per game sit 21st through 13 weeks per TeamRankings. And the 62.8 yards per game drops them all the way to 26th.

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The Chiefs sit at 6–6, and it’s pretty obvious penalties have become one of their biggest problems. With their playoff chances starting to slip, Reid and his squad badly need to get out of their own way as they gear up for a crucial Week 14 matchup against the Houston Texans.