Joe Mixon: You can never leave it in the referee’s hands

The Texans made some history in Kansas City on Saturday.

They became the first team to lose a playoff game while outgaining their opponents by more than 100 yards and not turning the ball over. There were several areas to point out when trying to explain the 23-14 loss, including eight sacks by the Chiefs defense and three missed kicks by kicker Kaimi Fairbairn, but a pair of calls by officials loomed large as well.

A rough passer call on defensive end Will Anderson on third down during the Chiefs’ second possession led to a field goal and an unnecessary rough call on a very late slide by Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the third quarter helped set up the touchdown. The Texans knew it would be them, head coach DeMeco Ryans said after the game Against everyone In Kansas City Anderson echoed that sentiment in his own comments.

Running back Joe Mixon said the game was a reminder to take care of things themselves.

“Everyone knows what it’s like, playing here, You can never leave it “In the hands of the refs,” Mixon said, via KPRC’s Aaron Wilson. “But I mean the whole world sees what it is, bro. It is what it is.

Referee Clay Martin told a pool reporter that officials noticed “forced contact in the face mask area” during the rough call and that “the onus is on the defender” to avoid the same type of forced contact to Mahomes’ head despite the timing of the slide. Those explanations won’t be comforting to anyone in Houston, and make it even more important, according to Anderson, that the Texans find some way to get past this hurdle and stop making the same mistakes over and over again.