KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Aside from the beat down the Kansas City Chiefs took from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday night, penalties were the story line.
Several questionable calls helped the Bucs take a 21-6 lead at the half.
That included two pass-interference calls on the Chiefs defense, one by Tyrann Mathieu and Bashaud Brreeland.
“I was very surprised. You know, this is the Super Bowl, I mean usually you let the guys play, especially in the biggest game of the year. We had nine penalties for 100 yards, they had two. Penalties can change the game," Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones said.
In the second quarter alone, the Chiefs had 90 total penalty yards.
“You understand who the refs are, you understand what you’re getting yourself into, you understand what’s not going to get called. I’m not going to say the penalties are the reason we lost, it’s multiple things, like I said before it’s execution," Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark said.
In the end, the Chiefs had 11 penalties for 120 yards. The Buccaneers finished the night with four penalties for 39 yards.