Controversial calls are nothing new in the NFL, especially the games involving the Kansas City Chiefs. And their Thanksgiving matchup against the Dallas Cowboys was just the latest chapter. This time, however, the whistles fell against the Chiefs, and those flags weren’t harmless. Penalties cost the Chiefs big chunks of yardage and handed the Cowboys extra chances to keep drives alive.

After the game, the Chiefs’ defensive end, Mike Danna, didn’t sugarcoat it. When asked why Dallas moved the ball so effectively, he said the unit simply failed to execute the little things the coaches emphasized, the details they preach every week.

“You know, it was shooting ourselves in the foot, penalties, us not honing in on the details the coaches give us. That’s what we got to hold ourselves accountable, and we’re all responsible for that,” Danna said. “And all that means is we got to sharpen up our skills, sharpen up the details, and hone in and go back to the drawing board.”

The Cowboys’ offense absolutely worked over the Chiefs’ defense on Thanksgiving. Dallas won the third-down battle with ease, as Dak Prescott and his squad converted 9 of 16 tries, a strong 56% and piled up 457 total yards compared to Kansas City’s 362. And sitting right at the center of all that damage was the Chiefs’ biggest problem of the night: penalties.

The refs flagged the Chiefs 10 times, which cost them 119 yards. And the reason why Danna wants the players to take accountability and believes that they need to sharpen up their skills is that it’s been an overall story for the Chiefs throughout the season. Take their season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers, for instance. The Chiefs were flagged 10 times for 71 yards.

Week 5 against the Jacksonville Jaguars? Same script. 13 penalties for 109 yards. Then came the matchup against the Denver Broncos, where the Chiefs stacked up another 10 penalties for 69 yards. Fast-forward to now, and nothing has really changed. The Chiefs have collected 86 penalties for 753 yards through 13 weeks. The indiscipline is still there, the penalty problems keep piling up, and in the middle of all this chaos, Andy Reid finally shared his own viewpoint on what he thinks of the ref’s decisions.

Andy Reid doesn’t agree with every penalty

Right after the Chiefs dropped their sixth game of the season, Coach Andy Reid didn’t shy away from addressing the team’s recurring penalty issues. In his post-game conference, the head coach said:

“I’m not always going to agree with the call, but the calls were made. [Cowboys] have got some physical receivers, big, strong physical guys, and that’s the way they were playing. “My guys were fighting to maintain leverage in that, and it’s just not the way I saw it, but it’s the way the referees saw it.”

The signs are clear: Reid doesn’t fully agree with the penalties. But the refs saw it differently and flagged the Chiefs multiple times. The most notable of those flags was against the Chiefs’ cornerback, Trent McDuffie. The refs penalized the CB three times for defensive pass interference while covering CeeDee Lamb. Those calls roughly combined for 50 yards.

The biggest flashpoint came on the Cowboys’ final drive, when McDuffie got hit with a DPI while draped over Lamb. The Cowboys’ receiver made the 11-yard grab, but the flag is what really stung. While plenty could argue Lamb initiated the contact and should’ve been flagged for offensive pass interference instead, sure. But the refs saw it the other way, and that penalty handed Dallas a fresh set of downs.

A few plays later, Prescott zipped a pass to George Pickens for the game-sealing first down. And that was basically the nail in the coffin. This is exactly why Reid quietly disagreed with the defensive pass interference calls on McDuffie. But even with all that debate, there’s one thing that can’t be ignored: The Chiefs’ habit of piling up penalties keeps showing up week after week.