The Chiefs didn't get the result they were hoping for in their first NFL game since their blowout Super Bowl loss, falling 27-21 to the Chargers in Friday night's 2025 season opener.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes faced some struggles early on after star wideout Xavier Worthy was ruled out of the game due to some friendly fire with Travis Kelce. Mahomes almost completed a late-game comeback, throwing for 258 yards and one touchdown while adding one touchdown on the ground, but ultimately got iced out by Justin Herbert's game-sealing slide.

While fans loved Herbert's clutch play, they weren't as enthused about Mahomes's slides—or lack thereof. On one play in the third quarter, Mahomes ran toward the sidelines and looked like he was going to run out of bounds, but the Chiefs star instead lowered his shoulder and hit incoming Chargers corner Donte Jackson, knocking Jackson to the ground.

Mahomes threw his hands in the air after the hit, as if gesturing he did nothing wrong. However, many fans thought Jackson was purposefully letting up on Mahomes to give him an untouched path to the sidelines, and that the Chiefs quarterback shouldn't have taken advantage of that.

One fan pointed out an example from a 2023 Chiefs-Packers game in which Mahomes got rocked by a Packers defender on a similar run toward the sidelines, and the defender ended up getting an unnecessary roughness penalty.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Patrick Mahomes Ripped by Fans for Sideline Move in Week 1 Loss to Chargers.