Getty Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen meet on the field following a December 10 game.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was steaming after an offsides call wiped out what would have been the go-ahead touchdown against the Buffalo Bills, and was still angry when he met with Josh Allen on the field after the game.
Viral video caught Mahomes and Allen sharing a quick embrace following Buffalo’s 20-17 victory on December 10, with the Chiefs quarterback venting his anger in explicit terms. Mahomes was angry that referees flagged wide receiver Kadarius Toney for lining up offsides, which negated a 17-yard pass to tight end Travis Kelce, who ran for 10 yards before completing a lateral pass at the 20-yard line to a wide-open Toney, who scampered into the end zone for what would have been the go-ahead score with 1:12 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Fan on X called out Mahomes for sharing his anger during the meeting with Allen.
Fans Sound Off on Patrick Mahomes
In their exchange, Allen appeared to ask Mahomes about the call that negated the touchdown, and Mahomes said it was offsides on the offense, calling it the “worst f****** call I’ve ever seen” and continuing to express his anger as he and Allen ended their exchange and parted ways.
Some fans took issue with Mahomes’ behavior, noting that Allen had been respectful in past postgame exchanges with Mahomes, even following tough losses for the Bills.
“Wow this is sad,” one fan shared on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Them playoff losses that Allen had to endure and he shook his hand like a man. Mahomes pulls this. Whats crazy is I didn’t dislike Mahomes, but this year the amount of crying game after game is annoying as hell.”
Others noted that Allen shared a long embrace following the 2021 divisional-round playoff loss to the Chiefs, when Allen put the Bills in the lead with 13 seconds remaining only to see Mahomes lead a game-tying drive and then win the game in overtime.
“Allen was all class in some of the most heartbreaking playoff losses in NFL history in K.C. (13 seconds?) and look how Mahomes handles it,” a fan posted on X.
Allen had a strong performance Sunday’s win, completing 23 of 42 passes for 233 yards with one touchdown and one interception and rushing for 32 yards with a rushing score. The win pulled the Bills to 7-6, bringing them back into AFC playoff race.
Referee Explains Reasoning for Call
Both Mahomes and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid expressed frustrations that referees did not give Toney a warning before the play that he was lined up offside, which they said was customary. Speaking to a pool reporter after the game, referee Carl Cheffers said Toney was lined up too far offside to warrant a warning.
“Yes, ultimately, if they looked for alignment advice, certainly we are going to give it to them,” Cheffers said, according to Pro Football Talk. “But ultimately, they are responsible for wherever they line up. And, certainly, no warning is required, especially if they are lined up so far offsides where they’re actually blocking our view of the ball. So, we would give them some sort of a warning if it was anywhere close, but this particular one is beyond a warning.”