Patrick Mahomes left a sour taste in some fans’ mouths Saturday with an apparent flop during the Kansas City Chiefs’ Divisional Round game against the Houston Texans.
The Chiefs held a 13-12 lead over the Texans early in the fourth quarter at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. Facing 2nd-and-goal at Houston’s 13, Mahomes scrambled left and was pushed out of bounds for a gain of two yards.
What irked fans was how Mahomes seemed to stop right before the out of bounds line. The Chiefs star waited for contact from Texans defenders and exaggerated the bump as he fell out of bounds. Even ESPN announcer Joe Buck labeled it as a “flop” right as it happened.
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman can’t believe Patrick Mahomes flopped like this to try and create a flag, this is definitely getting out of hand 😳 pic.twitter.com/EhR17fvhQv
— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) January 18, 2025
The referees did not reward Mahomes for his perceived trickery. But he did throw a touchdown pass to Travis Kelce on the very next play to put the Chiefs up 20-12.
While he didn’t get the call that time, the Chiefs QB did seem to benefit from some questionable rulings throughout the game.
But the only thing that truly mattered in the end was the final score as the Chiefs escaped with the victory to advance to their seventh consecutive AFC Championship Game. Mahomes went 16/25 for 177 yards with a touchdown in the 23-14 Chiefs win.
