Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes Breaks Silence on Flopping Allegations, Referee Favoritism: ‘I Probably Shoouldn’t Have Done That’

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes has benefitted more from baiting tacklers near the sidelines and controversial game-altering calls than any other QB in the NFL, and now he is breaking his silence.

Following a divisional round victory over the Texans, the Chiefs benefited from at least three controversial calls, which helped Kansas City advance to its seventh AFC Championship Game.

The calls in that game were so egregious that even Troy Aikman blasted the Chiefs and the refs.

One particularly egregious example occurred when Texans linebacker Henry To’o To’o was penalized for barely touching Patrick Mahomes.

Another instance came on a third down in the first quarter when Texans linebacker Will Anderson barely touched Mahomes —similar to the To’o To’o play—and the Chiefs quarterback seemed to throw himself to the ground dramatically.

Another instance, which did not draw a flag, occurred when Mahomes deliberately slowed down before running out of bounds to draw a roughing penalty and then dramatically threw himself to the ground again.

On Tuesday, Mahomes addressed the flopping and bad calls in a radio interview on 96.5.

“I‘ve kind of learned that no matter what happens during the game that, something’s going to come out about it if you win and you continue to win. So, I don’t really pay attention to it,” Mahomes said.

“I mean, obviously, I’ve been on both sides of it as far as how I felt the calls were made, but, at the end of the day, man, those guys are doing their best to make the best calls and keep it to where the players are making the plays in the game.

“And that’s what decides the outcome. And obviously there was a call here or there that people didn’t agree with, but, at the same time, I think there was a lot of other plays that really decided the outcome of that football game.”

ESPN analyst Troy Aikman wasn’t as diplomatic with his assessment. Aikman took Mahomes to task for deliberately slowing down to draw a penalty.

“He’s trying to draw the penalty,” Aikman said. “Rather than just run out of bounds, he slows down. And that’s been the frustration, and I get it. I understand it. That’s been the frustration for these defensive players around the league.”

Mahomes seemed to agree that he had crossed a line on the play.

“I would say that the only one I felt like I probably did too much was the one on the sideline where I didn’t get a flag, and the ref saw it and didn’t throw a flag. And I understood it immediately and know that I probably shouldn’t have done that,” Mahomes said.

“But, at the same time, the one that everybody’s talking about where I fell down, it’s like I was just trying to get out of the way of getting smoked by the defensive lineman running in.

“So, I’ll try to keep doing that and not take those hits because that’s the smart way to stay in the football game.”

One could reasonably ask Mahomes why he would deliberately slow down to make himself a target for defensive lineman if he’s so worried about playing smart football.

The reality is that Mahomes is playing smart. He’s smartly playing the officials to draw penalties. It’s up to the officials to stop rewarding him for doing that. The referee wisely did not throw a flag on the play near the sideline. However, they threw flags on the other two controversial plays above, in which Mahomes flopped or slid late to initiate contact.

Suppose the league is unwilling to stop playing Mahomes’ game. In that case, it needs to start seriously discussing a rule change that will penalize quarterbacks with unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for either slowing down before running out of bounds or sliding late to initiate contact.

Both of those rules—the sideline roughing penalties and the slide rule—protect the quarterback’s health. They do not exist as an entrapment scheme for quarterbacks to bait tacklers into roughing penalties.

It’s time for the league to take action.