Saturday’s Wild Card matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins featured a rare equipment malfunction for Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes. In the midst of Mahomes going to get a new helmet, the officials appeared to make a mistake, which NBC NFL rules analyst Terry McAulay called out during the broadcast of the game.
The incident happened in the third quarter after Mahomes took a head-on collision with Dolphins defender DeShon Elliott, where you can clearly see a piece of Mahomes’ helmet go flying.
A piece of Patrick Mahomes' helmet came flying off. 😮 pic.twitter.com/m2bFObIhnq
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) January 14, 2024
It would take the officials a couple of plays to figure out that there was even an issue with the helmet, finally telling Mahomes to go get a new helmet two plays after this run from him.
By rule, when a player has an equipment malfunction they either have to go out of the game for a play or have a timeout called in order to stay in the game.
Neither of those things happened in this situation. The officials in the game called for a stoppage of play for Mahomes to get a new helmet from the sidelines, allowing him to stay in the game for the next play without any timeout.
Mike Tirico first hinted at the mistake, pointing out how unusual this stoppage of play was from the officials.
“They are going to let them do that without a timeout and just stop the game for an equipment change. And stop the play clock, which is kind of interesting. You don’t see that without them having to take a timeout. I know it’s Mahomes, but I’m surprised they didn’t have to take a timeout to do that.”
"Equipment change, they stopped the clock, he really should have to go out or they take a time-out."
Terry McAulay is confused as Patrick Mahomes is allowed to replace a cracked helmet without a time-out or having to leave the game. pic.twitter.com/wrEZEngPYz
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 14, 2024
McAulay was then asked by Tirico to offer his opinion on the call from the officials, quickly agreeing with his assessment while calling out the officials on the field.
“Equipment change, they stopped the clock,” said McAulay. “He really should have to go out or they take a time-out.”
The Chiefs would go on to settle for a field goal after an incompletion on the next play, so the missed call didn’t end up being all that consequential in the end result.
That being said, you obviously never know what would have happened if Mahomes were either forced out of the game for a play or the Chiefs had to call a timeout.
[Awful Announcing on Twitter/X, Photo Credit: Peacock]
