Patrick Mahomes on Monday night channeled his inner-Marcus Smart.
The Chiefs quarterback twice attempted to manipulate officials — succeeding once — by flopping in Kansas City’s win over the New England Patriots.
The failed attempt came in the first quarter when Mahomes collapsed like a ton of bricks after being barely touched by Devin McCourty. The successful attempt occurred early in the fourth quarter when Mahomes went flying out of bounds after being poked in the back by Deatrich Wise Jr. The play drew an unnecessary roughness penalty and put the Chiefs, nursing a 13-10 lead, into Patriots territory.
You can watch the first-quarter play here, and you can watch the fourth-quarter flop here.
Patriots safety Patrick Chung, watching from home, tweeted this reaction:
Fair question, Patrick.
Fans can mock Mahomes, but it’s hard to knock him if the strategy works. The ire instead should be directed at the officials, who shouldn’t be so easily wooed in a game of such magnitude.
That said, the Patriots didn’t lose Monday night because of Mahomes’ flopping. They lost because Brian Hoyer was terrible and Jarrett Stidham wasn’t much better. The ridiculous circumstances under which the game was played didn’t help, either.
