Did Chiefs’ Mahomes try to sell late-hit penalty vs. Bengals?

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said he wasn’t trying to goad a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty from officials with a sideline spill late in Kansas City’s 23-20 win during Sunday’s AFC Championship Game.

Instead, Mahomes said there was good reason he failed to slow his momentum after Cincinnati Bengals defensive lineman Joseph Ossai gave him a shove once he’d gone out of bounds: his high-ankle sprain injury.

“The most pain I had was stopping. So once he pushed me, it would have been hard to put my foot in the ground and try to stop. So I rolled through it,” Mahomes said. “You get over there with the heaters and the benches and people, that’s where a lot of times, people get hurt. I think that’s the reason why there’s a flag for getting pushed out of bounds like that late.”