Houston Texans fans are still livid over the calls that appeared to go Patrick Mahomes' way during the Texans' Divisional Round playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last weekend.
The Texans were hit with a very debatable roughing the passer penalty in the first quarter, and later in the game, they were flagged for unnecessary roughness as Mahomes was sliding.
Both drives ended in points, and in such a close game (the final score was 23-14), those penalties absolutely mattered.
Many Houston fans—and fans around the NFL in general—have been accusing Mahomes of trying to draw those flags, and the two-time MVP recently addressed the situation.
The Texans faithful will probably not like what he had to say.
“Yeah, I mean, I would say that the only one I felt like I probably did too much was the one on the sideline where I didn’t get a flag," Mahomes said on The Fan 965. "And the refs saw it and didn’t throw a flag. I understood it immediately and know that I probably shouldn’t have done that."
So there, Mahomes is admitting it. He then elaborated on his side of the story.
"But at the same time, the one that everybody’s talking about where I fell down, it’s like—I was just trying to get out of the way of getting smoked by the defensive lineman running," added Mahomes. "So I’ll try to keep doing that and not take those hits cause that’s the smart way to stay in the football game.”
Mahomes' point is entirely understandable, but it won't do anything to assuage the feelings of those who are thinking he is essentially a flopper.
Houston's defense actually did a great job against Mahomes, holding him to 177 yards on 16-of-25 passing in its playoff loss.
However, the Texans were unable to make enough plays to upset the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
We'll see if Houston can rebound and get some revenge against Kansas City in 2025.
