NFL officiating is under scrutiny as the postseason field narrows and, especially, as quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his Kansas City Chiefs play on. The league could make additional adjustments to its instant replay system during the offseason to help deal with situations such as those that arose last weekend in the divisional round.

The referees are doing their best to call the game as fair and proper as best they can,” Mahomes said. “For me, it's go o

And Mixon was fined by the league, except with one problem: He did not say the words that the league fined him for. In issuing the fine, the NFL apparently cited a Twitter/X post made by former Bengals star T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who wrote, "Why play the game if every 50/50 call goes with Chiefs. These officials are (trash emojis) & bias."

Joe Mixon was punished by the NFL for words he never even said. The Texans running back was fined $25,000 for what the NFL believed to be Mixon’s criticism of the officials after Houston’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Division game.