The Kansas City Chiefs, who were 9.5-point favorites heading into the AFC Divisional Round matchup against the Houston Texans, were blasted by fans for intentionally taking a safety toward the end of the 23-14 win over the Texans.

With 15 seconds remaining in the game, Chiefs punter Matt Araiza took the snap at Kansas City’s four yard line, ran backwards into the end zone , and proceeded to run along the boundary before going out of bounds with nine seconds remaining. The safety led to a nine-point margin of victory for Kansas City.

“The intentional safety by the Chiefs covers the spread…Millions of dollars vanishing because of a game ending intentional safety. Wow,” one person wrote on X formerly Twitter. Another user wrote, “Chiefs prove the NFL is rigged. Why did they give the Texans a safety The spread is 9 It’s now a push and the parlays lose. The NFL is a multi billion dollar industry that’s why!”

“Honestly, do Andy Reid and the Chiefs NOT realize they are favored by 9.5 and that this safety will cost their fans millions of dollars??? How do you call that play and sleep at night,” another person added.

“Chiefs -9.5 point favorites. up 11 with the ball with 15 seconds left. punter purposely runs into the endzone for a safety. Texans lose by 9 and cover the spread. y’all can’t tell me this [expletive] ain’t rigged,” another person wrote.

Kansas City defeated Houston to advance to its seventh straight AFC Championship.

During the AFC Divisional Round, both the Chiefs and Texans offenses struggled to produce points. Houston out-gained Kansas City 336-212 in total yards and the Texans were 10-of-17 on third down compared to 4-of-11 for the Chiefs, per ESPN. Despite that, Kansas City allowed just one touchdown in large part thanks to a very productive pass rush, which generated eight sacks on the evening.

As for the Chiefs’ offense, mistake-free football was the name of the game. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed 16-of-25 pass attempts for 177 yards and one touchdown. His leading receiver was tight end Travis Kelce, who caught seven passes on eight targets for 117 yards and one touchdown.

Veteran running back Kareem Hunt led Kansas City’s backfield with eight carries for 44 yards and one touchdown. Isiah Pacheco had five carries for 18 yards.

Kansas City’s special teams also made some big plays, which included a 63-yard kickoff return by Nikko Remigio to start the game and a blocked kick by Leo Chenal during the fourth quarter.

The Chiefs (1) will face the winner of the Buffalo Bills (2) and Baltimore Ravens (3) matchup in the AFC Championship.