It seems like every single year in the Patrick Mahomes – Andy Reid era, we are talking about the Buffalo Bills beating the Kansas City Chiefs in the regular season.
However, it’s never really a huge deal because, well, the Chiefs end up taking out Buffalo in the playoffs anyway, whether it be by way of 13 seconds or another way. But this regular season’s loss to Buffalo was different.There was much more riding on this game in terms of the way the season is going and can end.
The Chiefs are now 8-5 and have just a one-game lead over the Denver Broncos in the division, who have beaten the Chiefs already this year.
Not only that, but the Chiefs just aren’t selling anyone on them being a Super Bowl-winning team at this very moment.
This time, this season vs. this time last season, are two totally different vibes, regardless of what the Chiefs’ record is. The vibes after this one? Cheated. That’s how the players and fans feel. Not only were the Chiefs en route to making another incredible play, they were likely en route to winning another incredible game over Buffalo again.
An offsides call on Kadarius Toney wiped away what was a lateral by Travis Kelce to Toney for a touchdown, which would have put Kansas City up by more than a field goal with one minute remaining. Was it offside? Maybe. Was the ref supposed to give Toney a warning? Yes. Did Toney ask for a warning? We still don’t know until the All-22 view comes out.
Regardless, the referees have found yet another way to take over a game that could have been special, just like they have done so many times this season to many different teams, not just the Chiefs. And, honestly, Patrick Mahomes was fed up with it. After the fourth down play that failed, which turned the ball over to the Bills to win the game, Mahomes was on the sideline yelling at the refs, being held back by his teammates.
We have never seen that side of him before, and we never want to again, but he had to do that.
“I mean, they’re humans, they make mistakes, but I mean, every week we’re talking about something, and all I can do is go out there and give everything I have, and I’m proud of the guys. That’s what we did,” Mahomes said to reporters after the game. “And it was a great football game that ended just like that. It’s just tough to swallow.”
The NFL has had bad officiating all year long for every team and really in every game, so this isn’t new. But what is new is hearing Mahomes rip the referees, as he usually keeps it calm, humble, and simple. We do not hear of Mahomes getting fined much for talking about bad officiating, but we could soon.
Mainly because he didn’t stop there, and why should he?
“I’ve played seven years, never had that, never had offensive offsides called,” Mahomes continued. “I mean, that’s elementary school. We talk about, I mean, you point to the ref do all that different type of stuff and, and it doesn’t get called, and if it does, they warn you, and there was no warning throughout the entire game, and then you wait till there’s a minute left in the game to make a call like that, it’s tough, man. I’m lost for words, man. It’s just not what we want for the NFL and for football.”
Usually, when a receiver is teetering on the line, literally, of being offsides and not, the side judge will let him know. However, you must first ask the ref if your position is okay if you are the receiver. We do not know what else happened from there because the broadcast did not show it.
Mahomes asked the ref after the play was called back what happened if anyone was given a warning and probably said a few other things. In his post-game press conference, he was asked if any referee gave him any explanation.
“None from anyone. I asked three different refs. No one said anything,” he stated.
The Chiefs put themselves in bad situations all game long, whether it be penalties or just bad play from the receivers, something that has been a season-long issue. Had they not done a few of them, they would have never been in that situation in the first place. But it still happened, and it will likely be a talking point for a few weeks. The one place this gets tricky has everything to do with one thing Mahomes said:
“Then you wait till there’s a minute left in the game to make a call like that.”
The same could have been said and was said about the holding call in the Super Bowl. Was it a hold? Yes. Should it have been called? Some would argue no because of the severity of the game and the fact that the game was deep into the fourth quarter.
So, it’s hard to play that card when it just ended up helping the Chiefs get a Super Bowl. But that was last year, and this is this year, and the Chiefs certainly have had their fair share of screw-ups in 2023 by referees.
At least we know that from now on, Mahomes will be letting them know when they mess up.
