Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce disagrees with Patrick Mahomes on the controversial play that sealed their loss to the Denver Broncos last week.
The Chiefs drove to the goal line for what would have been a go-ahead touchdown in the closing seconds of the game, but were flagged for a critical false start penalty and then came up short on fourth down. Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid spoke out against the controversial call, but Kelce said this week that he agreed with officials who threw the flag.
Travis Kelce Defends Officials on Controversial Call
In an episode of his “New Heights” podcast that aired on Wednesday, Kelce discussed the game-changing penalty with his brother, Jason Kelce.
“A lot of people are saying this wasn’t a penalty; I’m going to go on record and say that this is definitely a penalty,” Jason said.
Travis Kelce agreed.
“Yeah, he flinches,” the Chiefs tight end admitted.
The play drew strong pushback, with Mahomes saying officials usually swallow the whistle in that situation.
“It couldn’t have been big, but it was called,” Mahomes told reporters after the game, via USA Today’s Broncos Wire. “At the end of the day, you have to go with whatever is called, but a lot of times in those big moments, the little stuff doesn’t get called like that.”
Travis Kelce admitted on Wednesday that the Chiefs still had a chance to score a touchdown after the penalty, but came up short when Mahomes was sacked.
“At the end of the day, we still had another play,” Travis said. “I’ll take my guy Pat Mahomes on the six-yard line with the game on the line; I’ll take that any day of the week. So we gotta execute at the end even more. We can’t let the penalty absolutely deflate us and not let us execute at the end of the game.”
Chiefs Travis Kelce Breaks With Patrick Mahomes on Controversial Play