Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was visibly frustrated with offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy over how the team ran its final drive of the first half against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
The Chiefs took a conservative approach to end the half after getting the ball at their own 46 with just over 30 seconds left and no timeouts. A holding call backed them up to their own 36. Bieniemy opted to run out the clock with a run up the middle on 2nd-and-20 with 20 seconds to go.
Mahomes clearly wanted to be more aggressive. CBS cameras caught him having an animated confrontation with Bieniemy, apparently over the team’s strategy. Head coach Andy Reid actually had to intervene and guide Mahomes to the locker room for halftime.
Patrick Mahomes vs Eric Bienemy. Wow.pic.twitter.com/QmTz8swPk7
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 25, 2022
Bieniemy’s call is entirely defensible. As electric as the Chiefs’ offense can be, it was 2nd-and-20 with 20 seconds left. The Chiefs had no timeouts and were in their own territory. Sure, Mahomes could have made something happen in theory, but there are a lot of ways that could go wrong as well. Whatever the case, Mahomes’ reaction is likely to provide a lot of fodder for speculation about the relationship between him and his offensive coordinator.
Week 3 has seen at least one other angry confrontation between player and coach, so tensions are a bit high across the league.
