A late penalty committed by Bengals rookie Daijahn Antony helped the Chiefs to escape with a narrow win at Arrowhead Stadium. For the Chiefs, this win will come as a relief especially after their star QB Patrick Mahomes came unstuck against the Bengals once again and dropped career-low numbers. Moreover, the game was also marred by a couple of controversial moments that became the talking point afterward.

Driven by Harison Butker’s field goals, including the 51-yard winner in the last seconds, the Chiefs made it two wins out of two to start the defense of their Super Bowl title. Mahomes also contributed with two passing touchdowns. But he finished the game with just 151 passing yards, completing 18 of 25 passes, and more uncharacteristically threw two interceptions.

However, many people online argued that Mahomes should have been given a third interception in the third quarter and some called out his performance against the Bengals that saw him register the lowest passing numbers for a full game in his NFL career. But Cowboys WR Tyreek Hill is looking past that as he had a witty response in defense of Mahomes.

Hill’s latest post on X said, “If I didn’t watch football twitter will have you thinking a mf should have the same hype as Mahomes.” This could indicate that despite his average performance against the Bengals and the criticism he faced, Hill still ranks the three-time Super Bowl winner highly. Many fans under his post also wondered whether Hill’s post was directed at the number 1 draft pick, Bears QB Caleb Williams, or the Houston Texas’ number 2 overall pick C.J. Stroud.

The Chiefs 26-25 win against the Bengals came with a few debatable moments. In the third quarter, Mahomes eyed Justin Watson, only to be intercepted by Bengals CB D.J Turner. However, the refs flagged Bengals safety Daijahn Anthony for illegal contact, canceling the interception. This led to fan backlash online against Mahomes and the Chiefs, with some suggesting that the refs usually favor the QB in such situations.

One fan pointed out, “Every time he throws an INT, I just wait for a flag. They always get the call,” while another wrote, “It’s almost like he takes a shot downfield when there’s a defensive penalty because it’s a free play.” WGR 550 reporter  Joe DiBiase also shared a stat that would enrage a lot of Mahomes’s detractors. He tweeted, “Patrick Mahomes just threw his 17th INT that was called back due to defensive penalty. Most in the NFL since 2018.”

A few fans also pointed out Mahomes’ record against Joe Burrow. The Cincinnati Bengals bested Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in their first three encounters starting with a thrilling 34-31 victory on January 2, 2022. Then in the AFC Championship game on January 30, 2022, Burrow prevailed over Mahomes again leading his side to the AFC Championship with a  27-24 win and securing a spot in the Super Bowl.

The streak was extended to three wins when another close contest in the 2022 regular season saw Bengals winning 27-24 on December 4. Andy Reid’s side would finally have their revenge when they beat the Bengals in the AFC Championship game on January 29, 2023, with a 23-20 victory, en route to Super Bowl success.

With the recent win, Mahomes now has reduced the deficit against Burrow to 3-2 while his record against the Bengals reads 4-3 in his favor.

One fan wrote, “Bengals own Mahomes. Dude is so bad vs them. 3 awful ints with refs saving him from 1.” Another fan thought the loss would have been frustrating for the Bengals given that Mahomes was “brutally bad.”

There was one play when two of the Chiefs’ players clearly held a Bengals player and were reluctant to let him go. It was a blatant hold, and everyone is scratching their heads about how such a play could slip by the ref’s radars.

Another controversial play came on the fourth and 16 when the rookie DB Daijahn Anthony tried to break up a Mahomes pass that was intended for Rashee Rice. Though some people find this a controversial call in Chiefs favor, it clearly shows the DB bumping into Rice before the ball got into his hands.

The Chiefs are two in two in the wins column, but escaping at the last moment against a not-so-good Bengals defense will worry their fans. The performance of their star QB is also a cause for concern, but it may not be long before he see him back to his best. Despite the win, Patrick Mahomes and his crew are not happy with the performance against Burrow’s Cincinnati Bengals.

Patrick Mahomes mulls over the mistakes against Joe Burrow

The KC team had to resort to Harrison Butker’s field goal to get the win and the 26-25 win wasn’t anything to brag about either. Mahomes threw two picks today, one of those might even been the highlight play of the whole game. Yes, we’re talking about the one-handed interception from Cam Taylor-Britt (fifth of his career) that happened in the third quarter.

The Chiefs quarterback started showing concerns early on in the game when he first got intercepted in the first quarter by Akeem Davis-Gaither. After the game Mahomes spoke to the sideline reporter and expressed how the Chiefs didn’t play the best football today.

“Obviously we made too many mistakes today. Our defense picked up there in the fourth quarter and then we got it to Harrison, man, and he knocked it through,” Mahomes said. “We’re gonna have to learn from this because we didn’t play our best football on the offensive side of the ball,” the quarterback added later.

With this razor-thin margin win, the Kansas City Chiefs will be headed to play the Falcons at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium about a week from now. Their fans will hope for a much better showing from Mahomes as they seek a three-peat.