'Out of control': America turns on NFL over controversial calls to the advantage of golden boy Patrick Mahomes

NFL officials have come under fire after costly penalties helped the Kansas City Chiefs advance to the AFC championship game with a 23-14 win over the Houston Texans.

And at the centre of the refereeing controversy was quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

In the first quarter, Texans defensive end Will Anderson was flagged for a roughing the passer call on Mahomes, despite seemingly only contacting his chest.

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Things got even more dramatic in the third quarter when the Chiefs were leading 13-12 and Mahomes opted to run out of the pocket before sliding into contact.

Two players from the Texans clashed helmets and Mahomes seemed to avoid the brunt of contact, but the Chiefs still managed to receive a flag for unnecessary roughness.

"Oh, come on," Troy Aikman said on ESPN commentary.

"He's a runner. I could not disagree with that one more. He barely gets hit.

"He's trying to draw the penalty. Rather than just run out of bounds, he slows down and that's been the frustration and I understand it.

"That's been the frustration for defensive players around the league."

Social media was also quick to jump on the issues, with Texans legend JJ Watt among those to call out the harsh calls on his former team, and many believe it is a broader issue for the NFL to address with big name quarterbacks like Mahomes getting preferential treatment.

"Roughing the passer penalties are out of control," he said via X.

"He literally hit him in the chest with his facemask. That was insane."

Texans head coach Demeco Ryans avoided flat-out spraying the officials, but took a thinly-veiled swipe at them as their season came to a close.

"We knew going into this game that it was us versus everybody ... and I mean everybody," he said in his press conference.

However, some of the Texans players weren't afraid to speak their mind.

"We knew it was going to be us versus the refs going into this game," Anderson said.

"These things are tough. I'm not gonna go back and forth on what I thought was a call or what I thought wasn't a call. It's one of those things where you know what's up before you even walk in their arena and we've got to be better at being accountable and sound.

"There were a couple of calls that I was begging for, but it is what it is and I can't argue with the ref and play football, I've got to do my job. There's definitely some things that I would question … it's us against the world." 

Kansas City will take on the winner of the blockbuster clash between the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens for a spot in another Super Bowl.