Travis Kelce Clashes With Patrick Mahomes Over Controversial Chiefs Play

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce publicly disagreed with quarterback Patrick Mahomes over the controversial false-start penalty that sealed the team’s loss to the Denver Broncos last week.

Kelce sided with the officials on his “New Heights” podcast Wednesday, directly contradicting Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid, who had both criticized the call after the game.

The play in question came in the closing seconds of the Week 8 matchup.

The Chiefs drove to the Denver goal line with a chance to take the lead, but left tackle Jawaan Taylor was flagged for a false start before the snap.

The penalty pushed Kansas City back five yards, and on the next play Mahomes was sacked on fourth down.

Denver took over and ran out the clock.

After the game, Mahomes told reporters that officials usually “swallow the whistle” in that situation.

“It couldn’t have been big, but it was called,” Mahomes said, via USA Today’s Broncos Wire.

“At the end of the day, you have to go with whatever is called, but a lot of times in those big moments, the little stuff doesn’t get called like that.”

Reid also voiced frustration with the penalty during his postgame press conference.

But on Wednesday’s episode of “New Heights,” Travis Kelce’s brother Jason Kelce opened the discussion by stating his own position clearly.

“A lot of people are saying this wasn’t a penalty; I’m going to go on record and say that this is definitely a penalty,” Jason said.

Travis agreed without hesitation.

“Yeah, he flinches,” the Chiefs tight end said.

The admission put Kelce at odds with his franchise quarterback, who had framed the call as one that typically gets overlooked in high-leverage moments.

Kelce did not stop there.

He pointed out that the Chiefs still had a chance to score after the penalty and failed to execute.

“At the end of the day, we still had another play,” Travis said.

“I’ll take my guy Pat Mahomes on the six-yard line with the game on the line; I’ll take that any day of the week. So we gotta execute at the end even more. We can’t let the penalty absolutely deflate us and not let us execute at the end of the game.”

That comment shifts the focus from the officiating to the offense’s performance in the final moments.

Mahomes was sacked on fourth-and-6 from the Denver 11-yard line after the penalty pushed the Chiefs back from the 6.

Kelce’s position represents a notable fracture in the public messaging from the Chiefs’ locker room.

Mahomes and Reid had spoken with one voice immediately after the game, both questioning whether the flag should have been thrown.

Kelce’s podcast remarks offer a different view from one of the team’s most influential leaders.

The penalty itself drew widespread debate across the NFL.

Replays showed Taylor moving his right foot slightly before the snap, a motion that officials judged to be a false start.

Critics of the call argued that such minor movements are rarely penalized in game-ending situations.

Supporters of the call pointed to the rulebook, which defines a false start as any movement by an offensive player that simulates the start of the play.

Taylor’s foot movement, they said, clearly met that definition.

Kelce’s podcast comments align with the rulebook interpretation.

The Chiefs fell to 5-2 with the loss, still atop the AFC West but now tied with the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans for the conference’s best record.

Denver improved to 4-4 with the win, keeping their playoff hopes alive.

The loss also reignited a recurring question about Kansas City’s play-calling in short-yardage situations.

Mahomes has not run a quarterback sneak since the 2019 season, when he dislocated his right kneecap on the play and missed two games.

On Wednesday, Mahomes was asked whether he would consider using the sneak in the future.

“Well, if I do that, it better work,” Mahomes said.

“I understand people, when you watch the film and see stuff, you want (us) to go out there and make it happen.”

He added that the play call on the goal-line series was designed to get running back Kenneth Gainwell downhill, but Denver’s defensive stunt disrupted the blocking scheme.

“Obviously, the play call is what we called, and we wanted to execute that play,” Mahomes said.

“They were able to stunt and get people in position to where Kenneth wasn’t able to get going downhill and score a touchdown.”