Patrick Mahomes' Controversial Sack in Patriots vs. Chiefs Explained by Referee

In an inverse of the famous Tuck Rule, the New England Patriots watched a controversial sack go against them in Monday's 26-10 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Chase Winovich sacked Patrick Mahomes on 3rd-and-4 at the Chiefs' 35-yard line in the second quarter. Mahomes lost possession, and Shilique Calhoun appeared to have an interception or fumble recovery. Instead, the referees ruled Mahomes down.

Addressing the ruling, referee Tony Corrente said he thought Mahomes "was being controlled quite a bit prior to him actually going to the ground." Because of that, he blew the play dead rather than allow the Chiefs star to absorb more contact.

The explanation is unlikely to go down well in New England.

Mahomes was in the process of going down but clearly hadn't hit the turf. And blowing the whistle didn't stop him from catching incidental contact from Deatrich Wise Jr.

Adding to the frustration for the Patriots, they couldn't challenge the call because the ruling wasn't reviewable. NFL referees received criticism last year for being a bit too quick to bring an end to play, thus nullifying what would have been turnovers.

If the Patriots get the ball inside Kansas City territory with just under six minutes, they at least probably tie the game and might take the lead heading into halftime. Instead, New England continued to stare at a three-point deficit as the players went to the locker room.

To blame the sack call for the loss would obscure how much the Pats lost this for themselves, largely through the performance of their quarterbacks.

Brian Hoyer exited in the third quarter. Jarrett Stidham came in and threw a touchdown with his second pass. On New England's next play from scrimmage, he saw Julian Edelman gift Tyrann Mathieu a pick-six.

Stidham only had himself to blame for his second interception, which came with 3:32 left in the fourth quarter and effectively iced the game.

Beating the Super Bowl champions is difficult when your QBs combine to go 20-of-37 for 172 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.