Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes came unhinged after a late fourth-quarter offsides call by the referees wiped a miraculous touchdown play off the board in Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills.
Mahomes hit Travis Kelce with a pass just as he was coming free in the middle of the field. The legendary tight end then made the heads up play of lateraling the ball back to wide receiver Kadarious Toney, who ran for a touchdown that would have put the Chiefs ahead of the Bills, 23-20.
Play was called back but can't believe Kelce tried this 😮
📺: #BUFvsKC on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/pWMED8SAQa pic.twitter.com/LREwwhaQ1N— NFL (@NFL) December 11, 2023
Unfortunately for the Chiefs, the play was called back after Toney was seen lining up offsides before the ball was snapped. That elicited an expletive-fueled rant from Mahomes on the sidelines and even during his meet-up with Bills quarterback Josh Allen at the end of the game.
“It’s tough to swallow. Not only from me, and football in general, to take away greatness like that, for a guy like Travis to make a play like that, you want to see the guys on the field decide the game,” Mahomes said after the game, via ESPN’s Jeff Darlington. “They’re human. They make mistakes. But every week, we’re talking about something.
“…To have a flag change the outcome of the game. I’ve never had offensive offsides called. If it does, they warn you. There wasn’t a warning the entire game. And then you make a call like that in the final minute? Another game, we’re talking about the refs. It’s not what we want for the NFL. It’s not what we want for football.”
Patrick Mahomes was NOT happy on the sideline pic.twitter.com/kFdVMF7PrM
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) December 11, 2023
Mahomes’ meltdown is drawing comparisons to former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
Fans are pointing to situations where Brady handled poor officiating better than Mahomes, including this missed call in the 2019 game between the Patriots and Chiefs.
Here are some of the best reactions to Sunday’s game: