Ref - Chris Jones landed on Derek Carr with full body weight, hence flag

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Referee Carl Cheffers said he followed the roughing the passer rule when he penalized Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones late in the first half of Kansas City's come-from-behind 30-29 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night.

The Chiefs had just scored to trim their deficit to 17-7 when Jones stripped the ball from Raiders quarterback Derek Carr just before halftime. Jones landed on Carr while also coming up with the ball — replays showed it was clearly loose and that Jones cleanly recovered it — but Cheffers threw a flag for roughing the passer.

Cheffers, in a pool report following the game, explained that he saw Jones land on Carr with his full body weight while the quarterback was in the pocket.

Cheffers said Carr «gets full protection of all aspects of what we give the quarterback in a passing posture. So when he was tackled, my ruling was the defender landed on him with full body weight. The quarterback is protected from being tackled with full body weight.»

Cheffers said the fact Jones took the ball away from Carr was irrelevant.

"[Carr] gets passing protection until he can defend himself,'' Cheffers said. «Just as if he had thrown the ball, he still gets protection.… That extends until he's no longer in control of the ball.''

The Chiefs were irate at the penalty, which happened with less than two minutes to go in the half and was not reviewed.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid stormed off the sideline to argue. And after the teams traded field goals in the final minutes, leaving the Raiders ahead 20-10, Reid cornered Cheffers again as the teams headed to the locker room.

»I got it off my chest,'' Reid said. «I said what I needed to say.''

Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes said he has seen