A new camera angle shows Patrick Mahomes getting away with a clear-as-day unsportsmanlike penalty during the Kansas City Chiefs’ Monday night game against the New Orleans Saints.
Patrick Mahomes had a strong outing against a stingy New Orleans defense, completing 28 pass attempts for 331 yards to lead the Chiefs to a 26-13 victory. Kansas City has reached its first 5-0 start since 2018, when Mahomes took over as the Chiefs’ quarterback.
Mahomes and the Chiefs were the better team from start to finish on both sides of the ball, no doubt. But the three-time Super Bowl champion was also the beneficiary of an awful missed call by the NFL refs, who have been under enough scrutiny as is to begin the season.
The NFL is cracking down on players who use bow-and-arrow and other weapon-related gestures as celebrations. If a player commits such an act, they’ll be hit with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty.
Well, Patrick Mahomes did exactly that after a first-down run last night, and the officials missed what could have been a potential game-changing call:
Is this allowed? Patrick Mahomes – pointing first down or ready to shoot? So many looking like this! #SNF #Confusing pic.twitter.com/NBMXcfqkWG
— Connie Carberg (@ConnieScouts) October 8, 2024
It’s another frustrating instance of NFL refs failing to apply consistency to penalty calls like this one. Mahomes’ gesture here is not a “judgment” call. It’s a blatant violation of the league’s taunting/celebration rules.
The Chiefs are on a bye in Week 6. They’ll return to the field on Oct. 20 for a road contest against the San Francisco 49ers in a rematch of Super Bowl 58.
Patrick Mahomes & Chiefs Keep Finding Ways To Win
Kansas City will be without Rashee Rice for the rest of the season, and Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown isn’t expected to return until the playoffs (if he’s even cleared by then). Top running back Isiah Pacheco is also sidelined with a fractured fibula, and Kansas City’s offense hasn’t had any consistency this year.
But the Chiefs just keep finding ways to win games. The defense keeps doing its job, and the Mahomes-Travis Kelce connection has started to find its rhythm following Rice’s injury.
