Suspicions of the Kansas City Chiefs getting special treatment from NFL officials continue to swell after fans noticed bizarre activity from the sideline.
In the second quarter of the Chiefs' Saturday afternoon game against the Houston Texans, the reigning Super Bowl champions appeared to get aid from a ball boy while down 10-7 at Arrowhead.
While head coach Andy Reid tried to call a timeout from a few yards down, he failed to capture the referee's attention. That was when a ball boy standing behind the official, appeared to relay the message - pointing toward Reid.
Quick to react, the referee called the pause in the action, allowing Kansas City to reset in the huddle.
Given the NFL rules, in which only the head coach is allowed to call timeout, fans were quick to point a finger at the Chiefs - crying foul after the clip was posted.
'How the f**k do they keep getting away with this,' one user wrote.
Eagle-eyed fans noticed how a ball boy helped the Chiefs get a timeout in a win over Houston
'Just because Reid can’t get his fat a** down the field like every other HC does, doesn’t mean the ballboy should be allowed to get the refs attention,' another exclaimed.
'Ball Boy cannot assist or notify the refs when a team is attempting to call a time out. It’s insane the ref didn’t call a flag on the Chiefs for that……. Oh wait,' joked a third.
While many immediately threw shade at the call, other fans came to the Chiefs' defense.
'Dude got the officials attention to look at Reid,' one argued. 'Y’all are whiners.'
Another echoed the sentiment, saying 'he got the refs attention that reid was trying to call one, im all for the chiefs hate but bro.'
'It looks like the coach was attempting to call timeout and the ref didn’t see him or wasn’t paying attention so the ball boy got his attention. What a controversy,' a third chimed in.'
While the controversial call happened with the Chiefs down, they battled to win the game 27-19. The victory moved Andy Reid's men to 14-1 with two games left in the regular season.
On the other hand, the Texans left Kansas City with a 9-6 record atop the AFC South.
This was not the first time the Chiefs got away with another person not named Andy Reid aiding them to a timeout this season.
In Week 1, the Chiefs were granted a timeout that should not have counted when defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo ran down the sideline with nine seconds left in the first half. The stoppage was granted despite Reid being the only person allowed to call timeouts.
The Chiefs would win their opening game in an AFC title game rematch against Baltimore, 27-1, before going on an incredible nine-game win streak to start their threepeat campaign.