The Kansas City Chiefs walked out of Highmark Stadium carrying more than just another loss. Their 28-21 fall to the Buffalo Bills left them sitting at 5-4. For the first time since Patrick Mahomes took over in 2018, the Chiefs entered their bye week outside the AFC playoff picture. But what stung more was seeing Mahomes play nothing like himself.

The two-time MVP looked out of rhythm all night. Even reporter Sam McDowell couldn’t help but highlight it.

“Patrick Mahomes completed less than half of his passes for the first time in his NFL career.”

Mahomes closed a frustrating outing with three straight incompletions from Buffalo’s 40. He finished 15 of 34 for 250 yards with one interception. No touchdowns. It marked the first time in nine seasons that Mahomes completed fewer than 50% of his throws, and the 10th game in which he failed to deliver a single touchdown pass. For a player who’s built a career on precision and playmaking, that’s as un-Mahomes as it gets.

Worse yet, that lone interception came at the worst time. With just over four minutes left and the Chiefs trailing, Mahomes faced third-and-11 at their own 23. Under pressure, he launched one up the right sideline straight into the hands of Maxwell Hairston.

The Bills’ defense overpowered Mahomes all game, finishing with three sacks and 15 hits.

“I’ve got to be better at working the pocket and finding different lanes to step up into,” Mahomes said after the game.

However, after the game, Mahomes also took a shot at the match officials.

Patrick Mahomes Called Out the Referee’s Mistake

Halfway through the third quarter, things started to click for the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes led a strong drive that began deep on their own 11-yard line and stretched close to midfield. But under pressure, Mahomes scrambled and threw an incompletion. The ball clearly got tipped by Bills linebacker Michael Hoecht, yet the flag came flying for intentional grounding.

Head coach Andy Reid didn’t take it quietly. He tried to challenge the call but was told it couldn’t be reviewed. Mahomes kept his cool in the post-game presser, though the frustration was written all over his face.

“I was just trying to say that it got my arm, and the ball got hit. I was trying to throw it closer to the guy down the field, but it’s a judgment call, and it’s not reviewable. There’s nothing you can really do about it.”

He doubled down, calmly breaking down what went wrong.

“I was just trying to explain myself that I was trying to throw it closer to the guy down the field. I wasn’t going to throw it to him, I was going burn it, but obviously they didn’t see the ball get tipped. That’s just part of the game. You got to move on from it.”

That penalty changed everything. It pushed the Chiefs back to a third-and-16 from their own 36. One play later, Mahomes got sacked, and Kansas City had to punt. Maybe that drive didn’t win the game, but it sure killed the momentum. And for Mahomes, that call was hard to swallow.