A Kansas City Chiefs’ touchdown was called off late in the game on Sunday, leading to a 20-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Patrick Mahomes is disappointed in the way he handled his emotions after the Kansas City Chiefs’ frustrating loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
Following the 20-17 defeat at Arrowhead Stadium, which came down to an offsides call that ultimately determined the game, Mahomes, 28, was noticeably upset with officials during an outburst on the sidelines, and his emotions got the best of him when the quarterback went to shake hands with Bills star Josh Allen. As he met Allen on the field, Mahomes said, “Wildest f—ing call I’ve ever seen. Offensive offsides in that moment, man.
f—ing terrible.” Speaking to Kansas City’s 610 Sports Radio on Monday, Mahomes said he regrets the interaction with Allen. In response to a question from the show’s hosts about his sideline outburst, Mahomes said, “Obviously, you don’t want to ever react that way.” Then, Mahomes said, “But more than anything, I regret the way I acted towards Josh after the game because he had nothing to do with it. I was a little hot and emotional, but you can’t do that, man. It’s not a great example for kids watching the game, so I was more upset about that than me on the sidelines.”
Mahomes said moments like his sideline outburst “happens” from time to time. “It’s the NFL. Stuff like that happens. Not every season is going to be the same.” “I care, man. I love it. I love this game, I love my teammates, I want to go out there and put everything on the line to win. But obviously, can’t do that. Can’t be that way toward officials or really anybody in life,” he said of his emotional display after the loss.
The quarterback said his team “still has four games left” to end their season on a high note following the Chiefs’ back-to-back losses to Green Bay and Buffalo. During his postgame press conference, Mahomes called out the officiating in Sunday’s game. He was upset about an offsides call on Chiefs wide receiver Kadarius Toney, which negated a touchdown that could have won them the game.
“I mean, it’s obviously tough to swallow, not only for me but just for football in general. To take away greatness like that, for a guy like Travis to make a play like that, and who knows if we win,” the player said, via the team’s official transcript. “I know as fans you want to see the guys on the field decide the game and that’s why last week I didn’t say anything about the flag that didn’t get called on Marquez [Valdes-Scantling],” the quarterback continued.
He added, “I mean they’re human, they make mistakes but it’s every week we’re talking about something and all I can do is go out there and give everything I have and I’m proud of the guys, that’s what we did and it was a great football game that ended — another great football game that just ended like that it’s just tough — tough to swallow.”
Mahomes wasn’t the only one upset about the outcome of the game. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid also articulated his displeasure about the call. “Very disappointed that it ended the way it did,” Reid said during the same post-game presser. “Normally I’ll get — I never use any of this as excuses, but normally I get a warning before something like that happens in a big game.
[It’s] a bit embarrassing in the National Football League for that to take place.” Though Reid, like Mahomes, also walked back some of his criticism on Monday, telling reporters that Toney should have checked with officials to make sure he was onesides. “Normally, he looks over to the sideline and just gets an OK,” Reid said, according to NFL.com. “On that one, he just happened not to. That’s the coaching point. Just make sure you check with the guy on the side just to see if you’re aligned. I mean, he’s not lining up offsides on purpose. Listen, he was two inches or an inch from being legal. Like I said, you can argue both sides of it.”
