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NFL official helping Patrick Mahomes up goes viral

FaceProfileby: Thomas Goldkamp09/22/25
Patrick Mahomes
Photo by Vincent Carchietta / USA TODAY Sports

Conspiracy theorists on the Internet will have fun with this one. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was helped up by a referee following a play on Sunday Night Football against the New York Giants.

The play came early in the fourth quarter, back in Kansas City’s own end of the field. Mahomes was knocked to the ground and as the play wound down, the head referee pulled him up to his feet.

At the very least, the clip and still image will surely make the rounds on social media. For a while now, complaints about the officiating and the Chiefs have circulated the Internet.

At the time of the viral assist from the referee, Kansas City was leading 16-9, with the game still hanging firmly in the balance. Patrick Mahomes, though, was about to lead his team down the field.

The Chiefs drove 77 yards in nine plays, capping the drive with a touchdown from Kareem Hunt, a 1-yard scamper. That extended the lead to 22-9 with 6:03 remaining in the game.

That proved to be the deciding drive. The Giants would get into the red zone once more, but the drive stalled out and turned over on downs. The Chiefs were able to kneel the clock out on the 22-9 win.

After a shaky first half, the second half was much more Kansas City’s speed. Patrick Mahomes talked about the difference after the game.

“I think more than anything we just had to clean it up,” he said. “We were getting drives going but we kept getting stopped and getting field goals instead of touchdowns. I thought the guys did a good job of cleaning it up and the defense played their tail off, kept us in the game, and we did what we did in the second half.”

The game wasn’t without some notable moments, though. In addition to the Patrick Mahomes viral assist from the referee, tight end Travis Kelce got into a heated argument with coach Andy Reid.

For his part, Mahomes saw that as the frustration that had been built up from a poor start to the season. Kansas City entered the Sunday Night Football tilt sporting an 0-2 record.

“I think that was everybody at halftime, man,” Mahomes said. “We just want to play better. We hadn’t played to our standard these first few weeks. The defense played their tail off and the offense, we cleaned it up there. But we have to keep building and keep getting better.”