Dave Portnoy joined the many furious NFL fans hitting out at Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs with cheating allegations.
The Chiefs kept their bid for an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl alive with a 23-14 victory over the Houston Texans in the NFL Divisional Round Saturday.
However, despite punching the Chiefs’ ticket to the AFC Championship, Mahomes drew backlash from fans, including Portnoy who claimed the quarterback was disgracing the game.
With Kansas City leading just 13-12 in the fourth quarter, Mahomes ran out of bounds on 2nd-and-goal but decelerated before stepping out.
The two-time MVP was then shoved out of bounds by Houston’s Henry To’oTo’o before raising his arms in the air and falling to the ground.
And Portnoy slammed the signal caller for ‘flopping,’ claiming it was damaging his reputation as a player.
‘Maholmes (sic) is a great player. No need to disgrace the game and ruin his legacy with this flopping bulls***,’ the Barstool founder wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, alongside a clip of the incident.
Portnoy wasn’t alone in his fury. Despite no flag being thrown on the play, which directly preceded a touchdown pass to Travis Kelce, fans were livid with Mahomes.
‘That flop makes Mahomes so f***ing unlikeable…….,’ one wrote on X.
‘Ridiculous attempt at a flop after getting SEVERAL questionable roughing calls already this game. This is the reason people outside of KC don’t like Mahomes,’ another added.
And a third said, ‘As someone who absolutely loves him, that blatant flop from Mahomes is so disappointing. He’s so much better than having to resort to that type of bulls***t.’
That sentiment was even shared on air by ESPN analyst Troy Aikman, who said Mahomes was trying to initiate contact.
‘He’s trying to draw the penalty. Rather than just run out of bounds, he slows down,’ Aikman said. ‘And that’s been the frustration and I get it. I understand it. That’s been the frustration for these defensive players around the league.’
And Apple TV MLS analyst Taylor Twellman chimed in as well, sarcastically writing ‘I can’t watch soccer because the players dive and flop all the time,’ along with crying-laughing emojis.
Mahomes purported ‘flop’ in the fourth quarter came after To’oTo’o was penalized a quarter prior for unnecessary roughness when he hit a sliding Mahomes.
After dropping the snap, Mahomes scrambled for a short gain before deciding to give himself up while Folorunso Fatukasi and To’oTo’o were quickly approaching.
Meanwhile, the Texans were hit with yet another penalty earlier in the game when Will Anderson Jr. was controversially penalized for roughing the passer after hitting Mahomes a split-second after he released the ball in the first quarter.
And Portnoy was equally livid with that call, accusing NFL referees of ‘cheating’ at Arrowhead.
‘The good news is the Texans are dominating and their defense is flying around. The bad news is the refs are cheating and they are losing,’ the Barstool founder wrote on X.
