One of the hot topics on social media and the sports talk shows Tuesday was the continued chatter about the Chiefs getting special treatment from game officials.

Two roughing calls against the Houston Texans for hits on quarterback Patrick Mahomes in Saturday’s AFC Divisional game infuriated fans, although the NFL said the calls were correct.

The idea that referees help the Chiefs continues to be discussed, and Mahomes was asked about it Tuesday during his weekly radio spot on 96.5 The Fan.

“I‘ve kind of learned that no matter what happens during the game, that something’s going to come out about it if you win and you continue to win, so I don’t really pay attention to it,” Mahomes said. “I mean, obviously I’ve been on both sides of it as far as how I felt the calls were made, but at the end of the day, man, those guys are doing their best to make the best calls and keep it to where the players are making the plays in the game. And that’s what decides the outcome.

“And obviously there was a call here or there that people didn’t agree with, but at the same time, I think there was a lot of other plays that really decided the outcome of that football game.”

Patrick Mahomes dismisses talk of Chiefs getting help from refs but regrets flop attempt

Mahomes was then asked about accusations that he tries to draw teams into hits that will lead to a roughing-the-passer penalty.

Fans have pored over clips of the two roughing calls Saturday like they were the Zapruder film. Mahomes regretted one play on the sideline in which fans say he flopped. No flag was thrown.

But Mahomes defended his actions on the roughing call when he was scrambling and hit the ground late.

“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 and the ref saw it and didn’t throw a flag, and I understood it immediately, and know that I probably shouldn’t have done that,” Mahomes said. “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 in.

“So I’ll try to keep doing that and not take those hits because that’s the smart way to stay in the football game.“

This story was originally published January 21, 2025 at 4:28 PM.