Patrick Mahomes delivered a little dose of pain Friday that several fans thought was unfair.
The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback scrambled for a big gain in the third quarter of his team’s season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers at Corinthians Arena in São Paulo, Brazil. Mahomes ran toward the sideline and went out of bounds for 15 yards.
Chargers defensive back Donte Jackson was closing in on Mahomes as the Chiefs star neared the sideline. Before Jackson could get his hands on him, Mahomes lowered his shoulder and decked the Chargers defender.
now there needs to be a double standard.
— Gavin McHugh (@gavinmchughh) September 6, 2025
defender is clearly letting Mahomes have the sideline..
so now the next time Mahomes flops like a fish when someone touches him near the sideline there shouldn’t be 49 flags
pic.twitter.com/d6ejpMUa72
Several fans called Mahomes out on the play. Jackson slowed down in order to avoid an unnecessary roughness penalty with his target headed out of bounds. Mahomes, who is very familiar with the rule, still delivered a bump to Jackson rather than walking out with minimal contact.
Mahomes is such a loser. Knows if the defender initiates contact it’s a flag. So what does he do? Takes essentially a cheap shot at the defender.
— Boston Cream 🍩 (@itsbostoncream) September 6, 2025
Unnecessary roughness apparently needs to go both ways. The only reason the defender got trucked was because he slowed down to let Mahomes go out of bounds safely without taking a penalty.
— Mr. Puck Slut💰 (@PuckSlutPlays) September 6, 2025
If the defender hits him that close to the sideline, he gets flagged. Seen it too many times with Mahomes. Makes it hard to watch chiefs games
— Depressed Bears Fan (@DepBearsFan) September 6, 2025
But that’s a penalty the other way around…someone needs to put a helmet on him next time
— GenX_Nation (@GenX_nation) September 6, 2025
The Chiefs star has been criticized in the past for trying to bait defenders into penalties with a late sideline hit. The rules are in place to protect players from taking excessive contact on what’s about to be a dead play. But Mahomes’ hit on Friday took things to the opposite extreme as he trucked a player who had let his guard down.
Jackson and the Chargers did get the last laugh as Los Angeles held on for a 27-21 win in Brazil. Mahomes went 24/39 for 258 yards and a touchdown in the loss.
