Patrick Mahomes is having the best start to a season since entering the NFL as he has the Chiefs at 6-0 for the first time in his career.
The star quarterback has beaten both the Chiefs’ AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl opponents in his first six games of the current campaign, and it appears that the defending champions simply can’t stop finding ways to win football games despite whatever gets thrown into the way.
While he enjoyed another victorious outing on Sunday, beating the 49ers 28-19 to condemn the latter to a 3-4 record, he had folks questioning what they believe is an exploitation of an NFL rule.
📂 Mahomes things pic.twitter.com/RBUfTKmOaa
— NFL (@NFL) October 20, 2024
With the Chiefs up by two points on a 2nd-and-7 on the Niners’ 37 and one minute left in the third quarter, Mahomes scrambled after dropping back and finding no one to pass to.
He broke a tackle with a pump fake to his running back, pulling off a second fake to streak down the sideline, and made yet another pump fake before completing his 33-yard run.
The second fake was the one that got fans mad. Mahomes appeared as if he was going to run out of bounds, causing linebacker Dee Winters to ease off because the league frowns on late QB hits.
Patrick Mahomes Takes Flak For Abusing NFL Rule
Tackling Mahomes on his way out of bounds would have likely earned the Niners a flag, so Winters was prepared to let him cross the line on his own.
However, the QB took advantage of this and cut back to gain significant yardage.
Check it out in the video below:
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“That play doesn’t happen if the defense isn’t afraid to hit him,” a user pointed out.
“And when he gets hit for not going out of bounds its roughing the passer…” a second user wrote.
“Faking a run out of bounds as a QB should be an unsportsmanlike penalty,” said another. “That is a rule put in place to protect the ball carrier from serious injury and Mahomes constantly abuses it.”
This was reminiscent of Kenny Pickett’s fake slide during the 2021 ACC Championship game that ultimately forced the NCAA to change its rules. Some are now calling for the NFL to do the same.
