Patrick Mahomes doesn't get what all the fuss is about with Chiefs flopping

Patrick Mahomes admits freely that he probably shouldn't have flopped on the sidelines in the Kansas City Chiefs' win in the Divisional Round over the Houston Texans in an attempt to draw a flag. No, it wasn't because the Chiefs are already getting favorable treatment from the refs as many disgruntled fans have cried but, instead, because it was probably crossing the line.

The Chiefs quarterback trying to lead his team to a historic three-peat said as much in an interview with 96.5

"I would say the only one I felt like I probably did too much was the one on the sideline where I didn’t get the flag," Mahomes said. "The refs saw it and it didn’t get a flag. I understood it immediately and know that I probably shouldn’t have done that."

It's refreshing to see Mahomes admit that. Amid fans getting more rabid about the officiating in their games, specifically in the playoffs, and how the refs have seemingly aided the Chiefs at times, having Mahomes note that he went too far with a flop is good to see. However, it's probably not as impressive of an admission given what he followed that with.

Patrick Mahomes thinks complaints about Chiefs refs aren't valid

Following up in the same interview, Mahomes went on a long explanation for why he thinks that the idea that the Chiefs are getting favorable calls from refs in the playoffs or otherwise simply don't hold water and that the complaints from fans essentially don't hold any water.

"I’ve learned that no matter what happens during the game, something is going to come out about it if you win, if you continue to win. I don’t really pay attention to it. Obviously, I’ve been on both sides of it as far as how I’ve felt that calls were made. But at the end of the day, those guys are doing their best to make the best calls and keep it to where the players are making the plays in the game and that’s what decides the outcome. Obviously, there was a call here and there that people didn’t agree with, but at the same time I think there were a lot of other plays that decided the outcome of that football game."

I, admittedly, don't fully disagree with Mahomes' assertion there. If you want to beat the Chiefs, then beat the Chiefs. A handful of flags shouldn't so dramatically change the outcome of games in most cases that one-sided officiating becomes the only excuse to fall back on. That's a loser mentality.

At the same time, though, when the evidence continues to mount that the whistle has been on the side of Kansas City — perhaps most egregiously against the Texans when a roughing the passer call went against Houston for making contact with Mahomes' head when the video seemed to show otherwise — that's not an answer fans want to hear.

That, of course, brings us back to his comments on the flop, which honestly make this all worse. Does Mahomes feel it was wrong for him to try and draw a flag simply because he didn't get the call or because he actually feels it was against the spirit of the game? His longer assertion that the Chiefs aren't getting favorable treatment seems to lend itself to the latter.

Ultimately, though, this all feels like something that we're all getting a tad too bent out of shape about as a collective. Questionable calls happen in every game, not just against the Chiefs. Mahomes is right in that. Moreover, the best way to beat Kansas City is to beat Kansas City. He's right in that too.

But, you know, if Mahomes and the Chiefs don't want the refs to be part of the narrative in their dynastic run at a third-straight Lombardi Trophy and Super Bowl parade, saying things like this is only going to draw more attention to it, not make it magically disappear.