Patrick Mahomes Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes shows lack of awareness following sideline tantrum

By Mike Santa Barbara | Last updated 12/11/23

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes uncharacteristically lost his cool on the sidelines during a loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 14. Upset over what he deemed a controversial penalty, which wiped out a miraculous Chiefs touchdown, Mahomes dug in while speaking with reporters following the game.

"It's tough to swallow," Mahomes said via CBS Sports. "Not only from me, and football in general, to take away greatness like that, for a guy like Trave [Kelce] to make a play like that, you want to see the guys on the field decide the game."

The players on the field did decide the game, whether Mahomes wants to admit it or not. On the play in question, Mahomes connected with Kelce for a big gain, only for the tight end to lateral the football to receiver Kadarius Toney, who strolled into the end zone for what would have been the go-ahead score with a little over a minute to go. However, Toney had undeniably lined up offsides, for which he was penalized. The flag nullified the score while ultimately costing the Chiefs the game.

After the penalty, Mahomes had to be held back by teammates on the sidelines as he screamed at officials.

Patrick Mahomes very emotional on the sidelines. pic.twitter.com/nkq3kIvDqa
— NFL on CBS (@NFLonCBS) December 11, 2023

Mahomes went on to say that officials were human and made mistakes before criticizing the call and officiating league-wide. He said, "Every week we're talking about something," referencing the impact of referees in the NFL before bemoaning over how one call shouldn't impact the outcome of a game. If that's true, he must have a short memory since his Chiefs have benefitted from calls in the past, including a controversial penalty late in Super Bowl LVII, which helped them defeat the Philadelphia Eagles.

"Another game, we're talking about the refs," Mahomes said. "It's not what we want for the NFL. It's not what we want for football."

Perhaps with time to reflect, Mahomes will have a different view of things. However, after Sunday's game, he sounded a lot like an entitled star blissfully unaware of the leeway he sometimes receives that others throughout the league do not.

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