NFL News: Travis Kelce strongly defends Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes after controversial play vs 49ers

Patrick Mahomes has been under scrutiny for a controversial sideline run during the Kansas City Chiefs‘ 28-18 win over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7 of the 2024 NFL season. Therefore, tight end Travis Kelce has come to his teammate’s defense.

His brother Jason brought up the topic during a recent episode of their “New Heights” podcast. Many NFL fans are accusing Mahomes of cheating by making the 49ers defenders think he’d step out of bounds, forcing the opponents to slow down to avoid a flag for a late hit, before running for an extra 26 yards.

“He had the longest run of his career, a 33-yard scamper along the sidelines at the end of the third quarter which, if we are being honest, he used his quarterbackness to his advantage,” Jason said, but his brother immediately stopped him. “Man, get out of here,” Travis replied.

“You watch it again, Kareem (Hunt) pushes the guy out of bounds. Watch it again, Kareem is literally over there, gets away, he sees (49ers linebacker Dee Winters) 53, pushes him, he loses balance and then gets in the way of )49ers DL Kevin Givens) 90. I’m not trying to hear this, man,” the Chiefs tight end added, with Jason ultimately giving in: “All right, all right, easy. Ok, touché, touché, OK. I’m sorry! I didn’t see the push.”

The play in question came on a second-and-seven situation with only a minute left in the third quarter. Mahomes ran for 33 yards, and though his moves sparked debate, Travis Kelce completely denied any bad intention from the quarterback: “I hear what everybody is saying—some quarterbacks definitely take advantage of that. I think Pat has been pretty solid with if he is getting out of bounds, he’s doing it because he can’t get any more yards with his legs. He’s not trying to trick a guy going out of bounds. I just don’t see Pat doing it.”

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Mahomes sets record straight on sideline run vs 49ers

Kelce had his back, but Mahomes also stood up and addressed the controversy surrounding that sideline scramble. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the Chiefs quarterback made it clear that he wasn’t trying to fool the 49ers defenders.

“I’m not going to try to fake a guy out by using a loophole in the rules,” Mahomes said, via James Palmer. “I didn’t believe on that play right there (that) I was really showing like I was going to go out of bounds. I don’t want to ever put a defender in a bad spot. I know that we are all competing. When I go out of bounds, I’m going to go out of bounds, I’m not going to try to fake a guy out by using a loophole in the rules.

“At the time, I was going to cut back and get the first down, and then once I cut back, I was going to do one of those dives for the first down, but I cut back and realized (that) I had a lane to run, so I went down the sideline and then, I literally ran out of bounds on that exact play. When I go out of bounds, I’m going to go out of bounds, and whenever I’m trying to get a first down, I’ll get a first down. I’m not trying to use a loophole or anything in the rules to try to cheat in any way.”