New England Patriots pass rusher Matthew Judon did not suit up for Week 15’s matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, but that didn’t stop him from making some headlines during the contest. Even though they were heavy underdogs, the Patriots remained competitive through the first half of the game. However, multiple questionable penalties favored the reigning Super Bowl champions, which led to some interesting reactions on X (formerly Twitter).
Matthew Judon was one such tweeter, as the four-time Pro Bowler wasn’t shy to call out the officiating. He led off by saying that the refs were “cheating” and later retweeted a photoshopped image of Patrick Mahomes kissing an official.
Boy they cheating for these fn
— Matthew Judon (@man_dammn) December 17, 2023
I see no lies https://t.co/ZiKCfSsNIS
— Matthew Judon (@man_dammn) December 17, 2023
Matthew Judon Accuses Officials of “Cheating” In Chiefs-Patriots Game
While these tweets were obviously jokes, the punchline only works if it comes from a place of truth. To be fair to Matthew Judon, the officiating deserved some criticism. Early in the game, the Patriots were driving down the field when a questionable Demario Douglas facemask penalty halted their progress. Instead of a potential touchdown, the Patriots had to watch as rookie kicker Chad Ryland missed a field goal attempt.
Later on in the game, the Patriots appeared to catch a break when they recovered a Skyy Moore fumble. However, the play never counted thanks to another debatable holding call of defensive back Alex Austin. Instead of a turnover, the Patriots watched as Kansas City scored a field goal to increase their lead to 17-10. The refs also didn’t call intentional grounding on a separate Chiefs scoring drive.
Ultimately, just about anyone with eyes would tell you that the officiating favored the Chiefs. However, nobody should be using that to discredit this win. Kansas City had a few fortunate calls, but even without those, they win this game comfortably. The Chiefs won by 10 despite Kadarius Toney handing the Patriots a free seven points, and the Chiefs kneeled at the goal line when they could have easily scored another touchdown, or at least taken a field goal. Even if Matthew Judon was on the field and those calls went New England’s way, the Chiefs probably win this game.
Main Photo: Kevin Jairaj – USA Today Sports
