Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes injured after TD nullified by penalty
Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes suffered an apparent lower-body injury, but the play that he was injured on should have never happened. An illegal formation penalty called on RT Jawaan Taylor after a 50-yard touchdown grab by WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling resulted in three more plays occurring before the end of the first half. On […]
Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes suffered an apparent lower-body injury, but the play that he was injured on should have never happened.
An illegal formation penalty called on RT Jawaan Taylor after a 50-yard touchdown grab by WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling resulted in three more plays occurring before the end of the first half. On the first play after the touchdown was nullified, Donovan Smith blocked Chicago Bears DE Yannick Ngakoue to the ground, and Ngakoue rolled into Mahomes' ankle.
Mahomes came up limping after the play, and he was apparently hurt. He stayed in the game and didn't move much in the pocket for the rest of the first half. When he came off the field prior to halftime, he was greeted by head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder, but he declined to get any visible treatment on the sideline.
Mahomes took the field to start the second half with a taped ankle and he was moving around just fine. He took the team down the field on an 11-play, 63-yard touchdown drive. Blaine Gabbert replaced Mahomes with just over four minutes to go in the third quarter.
Taylor was not on the field for that 63-yard drive. The Chiefs took him out of the game in Week 2 after several penalties and they did the same following this last illegal formation call. The team is emphasizing him getting that under control by any means necessary, and let's be clear, he does need to clean things up. This particular play and penalty, however, was questionable.
The most embarrassing thing about this for the NFL is that it simply shouldn't have happened. Taylor appeared to be aligned at a legal depth on the play upon broadcast replay.
It's simply the fact that the NFL has taken it upon themselves to pick on Taylor, as Mahomes described it after Week 2 of the 2023 NFL season.
Since the NFL decided on a newly-placed emphasis on illegal formation penalties after Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season, they've called 11 illegal formation penalties. Of those 11 illegal formation penalties, a total of three of them have been attributed to Taylor. No other illegal formation penalties have been attributed to a specific offensive lineman during this period of NFL officiating emphasis.
Mahomes' injury doesn't appear to be significant, but it was wholly unnecessary and caused by a witch hunt targeting a single player.
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Featured image via Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
