Jacksonville Jaguars starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence couldn’t believe a glaring no-call on Monday Night Football against the Kansas City Chiefs. But even while the commentators pointed it out, the refs didn’t see it. That no-call shifted momentum. Lawrence joked about avoiding a fine later, but the impact was real.

Late in the Jaguars’ 31-28 win over the Chiefs, Chiefs safety Jayden Hicks hit Jaguars receiver Parker Washington while the ball was in the air. That opened up a path for Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie to pick off Lawrence and ultimately set the Chiefs up for a touchdown.

Pass interference? Lawrence kept his cool while addressing that play but still managed to put the refs on the spot.

“I don’t want to give up any of my money. Getting fined for anything. We had a slant flat play, and the defender hit the slant. Besides that, I mean, people can watch it for themselves and decide what they think, but they didn’t call it. So, it’s a pick. Put our defense in a tough spot. So, you know, if I can see that and just that point, might take a sack there, but better than a turnover. So, I can try to limit that. But obviously just pretty unfortunate how that went down.”

But even after taking 4 penalties, the Jaguars managed to grab the win in the end. Trevor Lawrence went 18-of-25 for 221 passing yards, a pick and a touchdown. His legs also saved plays, leading Jacksonville in rushing with 54 yards and two rushing touchdowns.

This just added more to the Jaguars’ story of resilience this season. Their record now stands at 4-1, and with head coach Liam Coen’s direction, they’re quickly becoming the ones to beat in AFC South.

Now, their clash with the Chiefs wouldn’t have been nearly this close if the Chiefs had cleaned up their act. Sure, the refs may have missed one call, and Lawrence’s smooth take on that showed maturity and a focus on winning. But the story was quite different on the other side of the field. The Chiefs got flagged a whopping 13 times, and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid didn’t quite agree with that.

Andy Reid’s lost momentum in Week 5

The Chiefs have been averaging 8.4 sacks per game, losing out on 70 yards each week in the process. But those 13 flags on Monday were especially painful. And Coach Reid’s post-game message was clear: those mistakes kill chances, no matter the talent on the field.

“We had 13 penalties to their 4. Whether I agree with them or don’t agree with them, it doesn’t matter. They called them. So, you have that many penalties, you give up field position, you can out-stat them to death, but that doesn’t matter. It’s the score that matters.”

Penalties weren’t just a number for the Chiefs in Week 5. They came at crucial moments. In the first half, they only had three flags. But after halftime, something shifted. Out of the 10 flags thrown in the second half, four were on special teams alone.

One holding penalty on linebacker Jack Cochrane during the final kickoff return crushed a potential last-minute comeback. Reid summed it up bluntly: the penalties lost them the game. The Chiefs battled hard, but these undisciplined hiccups made it impossible to close the deal. Both sides know this game was decided by inches and split-second decisions, but for the Chiefs, it’s a hint of a bigger trend threatening their season.

As starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes put it, cleaning up these mistakes is urgent if they want to compete for the playoffs.

“I feel like we have the guys, and we’ve executed at certain points of games and looked really good. Then we crush ourselves with penalties and mistakes and interceptions and fumbles or whatever that is.”

The Chiefs now have to work on fixing their penalties. The Jaguars, meanwhile, will look to build on this win, confident in their resilient formula. If Trevor Lawrence keeps leading like this, Jacksonville could be the surprise team this year. The drama of close games, sharp officiating, and discipline battles will be sure to keep us hooked all season.