Late in the third quarter of yesterday’s playoff game against the Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes scrambled and then slid at the very last second before being hit by two defenders.
Because the slide came so late in the play, the defenders seemingly did not have time to pull back and they made contact with Mahomes. Consequently, officials threw penalty flags for hitting a sliding quarterback.
Fans and pundits were both outraged by the penalty, and even Denver Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain chimed in. In a since-deleted tweet, PS2 wrote: “Cmon man what we supposed to do when he sliding.”
Pat Surtain took down this tweet about the Patrick Mahomes slide. He shouldn’t have. He’s right. pic.twitter.com/B1RPdYRWPV
— Jon Heath (@ByJonHeath) January 19, 2025
Surtain, of course, was not alone in his belief that it should not have been a penalty. Even ESPN’s Troy Aikman objected during the broadcast.
“Oh, come on!” Aikman said. “I mean, he’s a runner. I could not disagree with that one more. He barely gets hit.”
“Oh, come on! I mean, he’s a runner. I could not disagree with that one more. He barely gets hit.” – Troy Aikman
“The two Houston players hit each other. That should not have been a foul.” – Russell Yurk
“They’ve gotta address it in the offseason…” – Aikman 🏈🎙️🦓 #NFL https://t.co/vXj2v7VTKg pic.twitter.com/QioQ5IQwhg
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 18, 2025
Mahomes and the Chiefs are now set to face the winners of the Buffalo Bills-Baltimore Ravens game in the AFC Championship game next week.
