Patrick Mahomes has some compaission for Joseph Ossai, even though there remains no doubt that the Bengals D-lineman was properly penalized.
With the game tied in the fourth quarter and the Chiefs trying to get into field goal position, Mahomes kept the drive alive with a five-yard scramble on 3rd-and-4. After going out of bounds, the quarterback was pushed by Ossai, an open-and-shut unnecessary roughness call.
That moved Kansas City ahead another 15 yards, setting up a Harrison Butker 45-yard game-winning field goal.
Ossai clearly was distraught by the mistake. Mahomes said Tuesday in his weekly appearance on “The Drive” that he feels bad for Ossai, but the call was obvious.
“Not the last one, I mean I was pretty far out of bounds and he gave me the extra little push,” Mahomes said when asked if he was surprised by the call. “But the guy is playing hard. It’s hard, man, it’s a hard game to play. I was trying to get out of bounds to conserve as much time as possible, and he’s trying to get me out of bounds and not give me the first down.
“It’s a hard play for him to stop. He had a heck of a game, he had been a force the entire game against us, so you feel bad for him because you know that he was giving everything he had. But I was pretty far out of bounds. I knew I was pretty far out of bounds when I got pushed because I hit the bench and that’s pretty far back there.”
To Mahomes' point, Ossai did have a largely good game. He had five tackles, including one for a loss, and a pair of quarterback hits. He wasn't the only reason the Bengals lost, but it was his gaffe that ultimately will be remembered.
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