Brittany Mahomes called out NFL officials after the Kansas City Chiefs lost 28-24 to the Denver Broncos on November 1. On Instagram Stories, she called the flag that wiped out her husband’s apparent winning touchdown the “weakest call I have ever seen.”
With four seconds left, Patrick Mahomes threw to Rashee Rice in the end zone from the Denver 1-yard line. As the two connected, Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper was already pointing across the line. An official had flagged Chiefs right tackle Jaylon Moore for a false start.
Kansas City had led 24-13 in the fourth quarter. Denver cut the lead to three, then took the ball back when Harrison Butker’s 54-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right. Rookie running back Jonah Coleman caught a 51-yard pass and scored from the 5 on the next snap, leaving Patrick 1:56 to answer.
Earlier that afternoon, Rice had given Kansas City its first lead on an 11-yard pass from Patrick. By the time the quarterback looked for him on fourth down, he had thrown for 321 yards and three touchdowns.
What Brittany Mahomes Wrote About the Fourth-Down Flag
“You can’t tell me you call that on a game winning TD,” Brittany wrote, according to PEOPLE. She suggested the officials held the Chiefs to a different standard, adding, “cause it’s us.”
She’d had a different message after these teams met in September. Four ESPN panelists had picked Denver to win the season opener at Arrowhead. After Kansas City beat the Broncos 31-10, Brittany posted the graphic showing all four picks with “Oopsies” written over it, according to ClutchPoints.
Why Four Seconds Stayed on the Clock After Rashee Rice’s Catch
PATRICK MAHOMES TO RASHEE RICE
FALSE START 77 https://t.co/Anx556Z2bG
— wok (@wokdior) November 2, 2026
Kansas City reached first-and-goal at the 4 with 35 seconds left. Kenneth Walker III gained three yards on first down. Patrick threw incomplete on second down, and Denver safety JL Skinner stopped Walker at the 1 on third down.
The CBS Sports play-by-play lists the false start as “No Play” because the infraction came before the snap. The five-yard penalty moved the ball back to the 6. The down and the time on the clock stayed the same.
On the final snap, Cooper and Nik Bonitto closed in from the edges, and defensive tackle Malcolm Roach sacked Patrick in the middle as time expired. The win put the 6-2 Broncos half a game ahead of the 5-2 Chiefs in the AFC West.
Andy Reid and Jaylon Moore Answer Questions About the Call
Chiefs coach Andy Reid saw Moore move his head. What he disputed after the game was whether that movement warranted a flag. Former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, watching the replay, saw Moore start moving backward before the snap and thought the officials got it right, according to Sports Illustrated.
Patrick said Moore’s movement hadn’t surprised him and that officials often let small movements go in moments like that. He also pointed to mistakes Kansas City had made well before the final drive. The Kansas City Chiefs finished with 11 penalties for 105 yards.
Moore had yet to watch the replay when reporters reached his locker. He wanted another look before offering an opinion on the flag, but he took responsibility for the five yards. “It was called. There’s nothing else we can do about it now,” he said, according to NFL.com. “So, it was on me.”