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The Kansas City Chiefs had several opportunities to win tonight's game against the Indianapolis Colts, but there were also a few moments when Arrowhead Stadium had to hold its breath. One of those came on Indy's first offensive play of overtime.
Quarterback Daniel Jones found veteran wide receiver Laquon Treadwell for a 48-yard catch that could have put the Colts in position to score a walk-off touchdown. But when Treadwell got to his feet after the diving grab, the ball was punched loose by cornerback Nohl Williams and recovered by Kansas City.
The initial call from the referees was a fumble recovery and a Chiefs victory. That was overturned after a lengthy review showed L'Jarius Sneed had touched Treadwell's jersey with the tip of his finger when Treadwell still had possession of the ball.
As expected, the stadium went into a frenzy when the officials announced they were reversing the original call. However, Patrick Mahomes was actually hoping for the opposite. In his second game back from a torn ACL, Mahomes said in his postgame press conference that the narrative around the Chiefs receiving referee-friendly calls would have caused an uproar on Twitter had the call stood.
"We had the big play in overtime where we think we stripped the ball, and then he ended up being barely touched," Mahomes said. "I was actually kind of glad, because I didn't want to see Twitter's reaction if they would've called it a fumble. So, we got to prove it the right way, get the stop there, and then go back out there and get a field goal."
Mahomes hears the ref talk 🗣️
“We had the big play in overtime where we think we stripped the ball—I was actually kinda glad, I didn’t want to see twitters reaction if they would’ve called it a fumble.” pic.twitter.com/TR1dJfumcC
While Chiefs fans would have taken any possible path to victory, Mahomes apparently wanted to avoid giving the internet another reason to accuse the Chiefs of getting help from the officials. He'd go on to lead the offense on a game-winning drive that resulted in Harrison Butker's 40-yard field goal.
Unlike in the season opener when Mahomes had to shake off some rust, he looked much more like his vintage self tonight. He finished the contest 32-for-47 passing for 382 yards and three touchdowns. It also marked the eighth consecutive overtime game that he and the Chiefs have won.
Had the Colts gone on to win following Treadwell's magnificent reception, Mahomes probably would have regretted thinking this way. Thankfully for Kansas City, it didn't matter in the end, as Steve Spagnuolo and the defense tightened up to give Mahomes another chance to win it.
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