Controversial Patrick Mahomes Call Has Fans Convinced The Refs Favor Star QB

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs won the September 15 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, but not all fans are convinced they came by it honestly. According to AP News, the game's final tally was 26-25, with the Chiefs benefiting from the one-point difference. Many football fans are crediting Mahomes' last-minute pass interference call, raised during an attempted pass to teammate Rashee Rice, as the catalyst for the Chiefs' victory over the Bengals. 

Following the game, Bengals coach Zac Taylor, who recently praised Mahomes' skills in a separate press conference, appeared to agree with the call. "You know, it's one of those plays where we might benefit from that at some point this season. That's what I told the guys," he said. "They're calling it like they see it. I thought they called a very fair game, and they saw that as a penalty. So they called a penalty." 

Bengals fans, however, think the referees are purposely manipulating calls in order to put the famous quarterback at an advantage.

Bengals fans think there's something shady about Patrick Mahomes' supposed favor with the referees. One fan on X, formerly known as Twitter, wrote, "Once again the @NFL referees cheating on the last play for Patrick Mahomes... Its no way that was a Pass Interference for the game." A second fan tweeted, "Patrick Mahomes just threw his 17th INT that was called back due to defensive penalty. Most in the NFL since 2018." In response, another fan added, "Chiefs fans claim this doesn't happen though..." Meanwhile, another fan claimed that the referees were covering for Mahomes' lackluster performance. "Chiefs defense, Travis Kelce, and the refs having really been masking the fact that Patrick Mahomes has been playing pretty terrible for over a year now," they tweeted. 

On Reddit, one fan commented, "Look I'm not saying many of the penalties called weren't 100% correct calls. But what I am saying is the amount of Chief games that seemingly get decided by penalties feels absurdly high. The number of times we've all been like 'game on the line for the Chiefs, there's the snap....and ohh no it's — wait there's a flag!' Kinda feels absurd." Meanwhile, another proposed a deeper conspiracy, writing, "Between Mahomes, Kelce, Taylor Swift, and Butker they've got the largest amount of fan engagement and exposure. It's sports entertainment and the Chiefs make them billions."

Interestingly, Mahomes himself wasn't happy with the game. 

Bengals fans aren't the only people who are unhappy with Sunday's game against the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes also expressed displeasure over the game for a very different reason. During an interview with CBS, Mahomes said, "Obviously, we made too many mistakes today." He continued, "Our defense picked us up there in the fourth quarter, and then we got it to Harrison, and he knocked it through." Later, Mahomes vowed that they would learn from their mistakes. "We're going to have to learn from this ... We didn't play our best football on the offensive side on the ball, and we're going to have to get better."

Mahomes' disappointment in the Chiefs' performance wasn't enough to stop him from celebrating his 29th birthday, however. Although his actual birthday falls on September 17, his wife, Brittany Mahomes threw him a lavish party following the Chiefs' game against the Bengals, according to People. Among the famous attendees was none other than Taylor Swift, who has seemingly decided to not let Brittany Mahomes' Trump drama stop her from mingling with her boyfriend, Travis Kelce's Chiefs family. And while Swift has yet to bless fans with photos from the shindig, she took several with Chiefs WAGs Sheawna Weathersby and Chariah Gordon, according to E! News.