Getty Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Bills quarterback Josh Allen on October 16, 2022.
With a day passing from the rough loss and his anger cooling, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is expressing some regret over his heated postgame exchange with Josh Allen.
Mahomes was angry in the closing seconds of the Buffalo Bills‘ 20-17 win over the Chiefs on December 10, expressing frustration that referees flagged wide receiver Kadarius Toney for a rarely called offensive offsides penalty in the final two minutes of the game. The flag wiped out what would have been the go-ahead touchdown after a 27-yard catch-and-run to tight end Travis Kelce turned into a touchdown when he threw a cross-field lateral to Toney.
Mahomes was still heated when he met Allen on the field after the game, but on Monday shared some regret over the interaction.
Patrick Mahomes ‘Regretted’ Giving Josh Allen an Earful
In a Monday appearance on 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City, Mahomes said he feels like he crossed the line in his aggression toward referees on the sidelines as he sought an explanation for th call.
“Obviously you don’t want to react that way; I mean, I care, man. I love it — I love this game, and I love my teammates. I want to go out there and put everything on the line to win, but obviously you can’t do that, can’t be that way toward officials or really anybody in life,” Mahomes said.
Mahomes went on to add that, “more than anything, I regretted the way I acted toward Josh [Allen] after the game, because he had nothing to do with it.”
Patrick Mahomes was still upset about the offside call meeting with Josh Allen after the game.
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Mahomes also admitted that the call on the field was correct, saying he saw that Toney was lined up ahead up ahead of the line of scrimmage. But the Chiefs quarterback admitted it was rarely called and said his team must learn from the setback.
“Obviously I’ve seen it now, and if he didn’t check and they weren’t good, it is a foul. It is something you rarely see called in the NFL. But it was a foul; it’s part of playing the game, man. You learn from it, it’s part of being a person, you learn from your mistakes and try to be better next time,” he said.
Win Boosts Buffalo’s Playoff Odds
The win was a critical one for the Bills, bringing them to 7-6 and in a six-way tie for sixth place in the AFC. After the Miami Dolphins blew a 14-point lead in the closing minutes of Monday night’s game against the Tennessee Titans, Buffalo’s playoff odds rose to 49% in the New York Times‘ playoff simulator.
Sunday’s win over the Chiefs came after a trying week for the Bills, with Go Long’s Tyler Dunne publishing three-part series on Thursday entitled “The McDermott Problem” that quoted several former players and coaches and was highly critical of Bills head coach Sean McDermott and his coaching style.
ESPN’s Pat McAfee said he believes the Bills could seize the opportunity to rally around their coach and gather momentum toward a playoff push.
“If you looked at that locker room afterwards with everything that came out last week … they rallied around that,” McAfee said. “Brandon Beane gave him a game ball, the locker room was saying to Coach McDermott, ‘We got your back.’ That could be a moment that could really galvanize that Buffalo Bills team to play the best football that they’ve played all season.”