Patrick Mahomes regrets the way he reacted to the offsides penalty that negated what would have been the go-ahead touchdown in Sunday's eventual loss to the Bills.
Mahomes slammed his helmet after Kansas City turned the ball over on downs after Kadarius Toney was flagged for being offsides on a play that ended with him scoring off of a lateral thrown by Travis Kelce. The Chiefs quarterback, who was seen shouting on his sideline after throwing his helmet, needed to be restrained by teammates. He then complained about the call during his postgame press conference.
"It happens, man. It's the NFL," Mahomes said on 610 Sports Radio. "Stuff like that happens. You've got to move on. ... Obviously, you don't want to react that way. I care man. I love it. I love this game, I love my teammates, I want to go out there and put everything on the line to win. But obviously, can't do that. Can't be that way towards officials or really anybody in life."
Mahomes said he most regrets what he said to Bills quarterback Josh Allen when the two met on the field after the game. "Wildest f---ing call I've ever seen," Mahomes was heard saying to Allen. "Offensive offsides on that play, man. F---ing terrible."
"Probably regret acting like that, but more than anything, I regret the way I acted towards Josh after the game because he had nothing to do with it," Mahomes said. "I was still hot and emotional, but you can't do that, man. It's not a great example for kids watching the game. I was more upset about that than I was about me on the sideline."
Patrick Mahomes was still upset about the offside call meeting with Josh Allen after the game. #Billsmafia pic.twitter.com/6TYGJ1xnS9
— Thad Brown (@thadbrown7) December 11, 2023
Like Tom Brady before him, Mahomes is undeniably one of the NFL's most competitive players. That side of him came out on Sunday night.
"It's tough when you play a hard fought game and the game comes down to stuff like that," Mahomes said. "But it's part of it, man. It's part of the game. You've got to just learn from it and try to be better from it, be better as a person and be better as a player. It's something that I'll learn from in my career and try to be better the next time the situation arises."
Mahomes is also not used to losing, which is surely part of what led to his reaction. The two-time league and Super Bowl MVP has won a shopping 77.6% of his games, including the postseason. With Sunday's loss, the Chiefs are off to their worst 13-game start since Mahomes became the team's starting quarterback in 2018.
"Not every season is going to be the same," Mahomes said. "You're not always going to have success. You've got to learn how to get better from it. We've still got four games left and we've got to to whatever we can to fight and win the division and make the playoffs."
