Brittany Mahomes did not mince words after the Kansas City Chiefs lost 28-24 to the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Nov. 1. The wife of star quarterback Patrick Mahomes took to her Instagram Stories to vent her anger over a specific call that wiped out a potential game-winning touchdown.
She pointed directly at the officials for a false start penalty that pushed the team back five yards on fourth down. The move killed the drive and ended the game when Patrick Mahomes was sacked on the very next play.
Jaylon Moore, the offensive tackle, received a penalty that appeared to stem from the tiniest shift at the line of scrimmage. It turned a fourth-and-goal from the two-yard line into a seventh-yard line nightmare. Mahomes wrote on a black screen that she could not believe the refs made that call on a game-winning touchdown.
“You can’t tell me you call that on the game winning TD, oh wait yeah I can cause it’s us,” she wrote, adding a smiling face emoji. She followed that up with a blunt assessment of the officiating crew. “That was the weakest call I have ever seen, you can’t tell me otherwise,” per the New York Post. Her frustration was palpable and shared by many in the stands who watched the lead slip away.
Penalties Cost the Game
Head coach Andy Reid tried to play it cool in the moment, calling the flag “one man’s opinion.” He did not see the false start himself. Yet the numbers tell a different story about what broke the Chiefs. The team committed over 100 yards in penalties, a massive total that put them in a bad position all the way down to the end.
Reid admitted the issue on the sideline after the loss. “We had over 100 yards in penalties and that puts you in a bad position all the way down to the touchdown right at the end to win the game,” Reid said. “We have to make sure we take care of that.” Harrison Butker, the kicker, also failed to convert a crucial field goal, which allowed Denver to mount a comeback during the fourth quarter.
The Chiefs blew a double-digit lead in the second half, allowing the Broncos to score two touchdowns to take the lead. This loss marks another tough chapter for a team that expected to dominate the AFC West. The officiating crew made a call that changed the entire outcome of the game.
While penalties were a major factor, the specific timing of the false start call on fourth down remains the most controversial moment. Fans and players alike are left wondering if the rules were applied fairly in that final second.
A Pattern of Bad Calls
It is hard to shake the feeling that the Chiefs are getting the short end of the stick too often. The Big 12 conference recently admitted a replay mistake gave BYU an erroneous touchdown in a different game. The league cited a rule saying the ball “belongs to the recovering team at the spot of the recovery and any advance is nullified.”
“Replay was incorrect in awarding a score,” the Big 12’s statement said, per reports. While that error happened in college football, it highlights a growing frustration with how officials handle high-stakes moments. When a team loses by four points after a call that wipes out a score, the anger is justified.
The next step for Kansas City is to clean up their own mistakes before blaming the refs. They cannot control the officials, but they can control their discipline. With over 100 yards in penalties, the team put too much pressure on itself.
