Patrick Mahomes is already one of the greatest NFL players of all time. He should not be able to create more advantages by playing outside the lines and messing with the referees. (And those referees shouldn’t be so eager to help him in his efforts.)
We saw it firsthand Saturday afternoon, during the fourth quarter of the Kansas City Chiefs’ divisional game against the Houston Texans.
As the Chiefs drove deep into Houston territory, Mahomes went out of bounds. However, he clearly stopped just short of the white line, only to take a hit that pushed his momentum off the field. Mahomes took this opportunity to blatantly collapse and wave his arms as if he was hit late (he wasn’t)
Of course, the match officials did. not penalize Mahomes for this:
Naturally, Mahomes quickly made the Texans pay afterward with a ridiculous falling touchdown pass:
There is no official penalty for failure in the NFL rulebook. However, penalties for failures have already been issued under the definition of unsportsmanlike conduct.
It’s damaging footage like this that shows the NFL should specifically delineate offensive player failures and punish anyone who attempts them — especially when it’s the face of the league setting this kind of example.
This article was originally published on For The Win: Patrick Mahomes’ shameless flop on a non-late shot is a sign that the NFL needs to institute a flop penalty.
