This article says there was definitely a hold by the Kansas City offensive line by Orlando Brown well before the late hit out of bounds put Kansas City in position to score the winning field goal.
Key play included a missed holding penalty by Orlando Brown - (
New Window )
Also, a couple of analysts and NFL guys online have said that when defenders use the rip moves that the cinci D-line was using, the refs rarely call holding
Link - ( New Window )
I didn't care who won that game, but the hold on the last play by the LT was egregious, and needed to be called. Without it, Mahomes might not even get out of the pocket. The number of offensive holding penalties called in the playoffs has been abysmal. And I'm not talking about minor stuff. I'm talking about bear hugs and outright tackles. There were at least three playoff games that had ZERO holding calls made, ZERO, despite incredibly obvious penalties that enabled plays to be made.
I have no doubt the NFL is telling officials to ignore these calls because they don't want QBs injured in the postseason. You can't tell me that the official to the QB's left didn't see, on TWO separate plays in the Giants Eagles game, the OG AND OT bear hugging Thibs and Lawrence (both arms wrapped entirely around them), and tackling Lawrence on one of the plays. Those two guys are his main (pretty much only) responsibility as a ref. He HAD to see it.
This.
QBs get paid and they are often the face of the franchise. High scoring games with lots of passes make most fans happy. So owners need to balance keeping QBs in one piece while still allowing for high powered pass offense without turning defense into a total joke.
It's tough on officials because the exact same holding call will be blown or not depending on who is playing qb and where we are in the season and the game.