Travis Kelce has backed the NFL officials’ decision to call a false start against the Kansas City Chiefs during their loss to the Denver Broncos, offering a different view from Brittany Mahomes, who strongly criticised the referees after the game.
The Chiefs suffered a 28-24 defeat after a late penalty against offensive lineman Jaylon Moore wiped out what appeared to be a go-ahead touchdown. Patrick Mahomes had found Rashee Rice in the end zone, but the flag pushed Kansas City back to the six-yard line. Mahomes was then sacked on fourth down, ending the team’s chance to take the lead.
Brittany Mahomes, Patrick’s wife, reacted to the decision on social media, questioning why officials had called the penalty at such a crucial moment.
‘You can’t tell me you call that on a game winning [touchdown],’ she wrote. ‘Oh wait yeah I can cause it’s us. That was the weakest call I have ever seen, you can’t tell me otherwise.’
Travis Kelce backs the referees’ decision
The debate continued on the latest episode of the New Heights podcast, where Travis Kelce discussed the call with his brother Jason.
Jason said: ‘A lot of people are saying this wasn’t a penalty; I’m going to go on record and say that this is definitely a penalty.’
Travis agreed, replying: ‘Yeah, he flinches.’
The Chiefs tight end also pointed out that Kansas City still had a chance to win after the penalty but failed to execute on the final play.
‘At the end of the day, we still had another play,’ Travis said. ‘I’ll take my guy Pat Mahomes on the six-yard line with the game on the line.
‘I’ll take that any day of the week. So we gotta execute at the end even more. We can’t let the penalty absolutely deflate us and not let us execute at the end of the game.’
Patrick Mahomes also addressed the decision after the game, suggesting he was not fully convinced by the call.
‘It couldn’t have been big, but it was called,’ he told reporters.
‘At the end of the day, you have to go with whatever is called, but a lot of times in those big moments, the little stuff doesn’t get called like that.’
Justin Simmons criticises Chiefs fans
Former Denver Broncos safety Justin Simmons also weighed in on the controversy, defending the officials’ decision and taking aim at Kansas City fans who disputed the penalty.
Speaking on his podcast, The Last Line, Simmons said: ‘Y’all been cheating the whole time you had Patrick Mahomes. Refs been cheating for y’all.’
He also criticised supporters who argued that Moore had not committed a false start.
‘My rant is at the Chiefs fans that are delusional enough to think that was not a false start. It was, y’all lost and y’all lost at the 1-yard line. Ha! I don’t feel bad for y’all.’
His co-host and former Broncos teammate Kareem Jackson compared the Chiefs to ‘the kid in the neighborhood who loses and they take their ball and they go home with it.’