Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes expressed regret for his heated sideline outburst at officials and his postgame interaction with Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen during Sunday’s game.
Mahomes acknowledged his actions were not appropriate and emphasized his love for the game and teammates.
Following an offside call on Chiefs receiver Kadarius Toney that nullified a potential game-winning touchdown, Mahomes erupted in frustration on the sideline. The penalty wiped out a 49-yard touchdown pass to Toney after a cross-field lateral from Travis Kelce.
Here's the All-22 film on the Kelce lateral/Toney offsides play. pic.twitter.com/62fThV5ZCN
— how bout those CHIEFS (@hbtCHIEFS) December 11, 2023
The Chiefs failed to recover, and the Bills secured a 20-17 victory as Mahomes threw incomplete on three consecutive plays.
In an interview with 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City on Monday, Mahomes expressed remorse for his outburst.
“Obviously you don’t want to react that way; I mean, I care, man. I love this game, and I love my teammates. I want to go out there and put everything on the line to win, but obviously you can’t do that, can’t be that way toward officials or really anybody in life,” he maturely said.
Patrick Mahomes in the locker room after the game pic.twitter.com/ywFKPOOR80
— Chiefs Kingdom Memes – CKM (@kcchiefsmmz) December 11, 2023
Mahomes admitted his regret extended to his interaction with Josh Allen after the game, acknowledging that Allen had no involvement in the officiating decision.
A WROC-TV camera captured Mahomes telling Allen: “Wildest f*cking call I’ve ever seen … Offensive offsides on that play, man. F*cking terrible.”
Patrick Mahomes telling Josh Allen (who wasn’t even on the field) that the offsides against Kadarius Toney was the “worst f***ing call I’ve ever seen” is beyond out of pocket. Mahomes acts like a child on camera more than any other active player in the #NFL pic.twitter.com/wUzKw4R9dc
— Danny Divito 🔑 🏡 (@realdannydivito) December 11, 2023
Reflecting on the incident, Mahomes stated: “I was still hot and emotional, but you can’t do that. It’s not a great example for kids watching the game. I was more upset about that than me on the sidelines.”
Despite initially expressing frustration with the officiating, Mahomes admitted on Monday that the call was correct.
“Obviously I’ve seen it now, and if he didn’t check, and they weren’t good, it is a foul. It is something you rarely see called in the NFL. But it was a foul; it’s part of playing the game, man. You learn from it, it’s part of being a person, you learn from your mistakes and try to be better next time,” he said.
Mahomes crying about a call is classic. Foh bro Toney was offsides period. End of story pic.twitter.com/Kqx9tZuRuF
— Beezy (@itsyaaboiii) December 11, 2023
Chiefs coach Andy Reid added that Toney failed to check with the sideline official to ensure he was lined up correctly.
Reid admits Toney did not check with the official:
(via @Chiefs) pic.twitter.com/1rgRkfdv3C
— Ari Meirov (@AriMeirov) December 11, 2023
Credit to Mahomes for handling the situation in a mature manner.
It has been a very rough season (and few years for that matter) for the officials … But clearly, what happened on Sunday was 1,000% on Toney and not the refs.
Mahomes’ anger should be directed at Toney who continues to make bonehead mistakes again and again and again.
What Josh Allen should have told Patrick Mahomes at mid-field yesterday pic.twitter.com/3KJfk0XY4o
— Shooter McGavin (@ShooterMcGavin_) December 11, 2023
Regardless of his apology, should Mahomes still be fined for his initial criticism of the officials?
Looking at the big picture, how do you think the Chiefs respond from this?
They play the New England Patriots this coming Sunday in a game they certainly should win.
However, at 8-5, Mahomes is facing the very real possibility of having to play a road playoff game for the very first time in his career.
Will Kansas repeat as Super Bowl champs? … Or do they just not have it this year???