KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The broadcast called it a left hook — and it ended Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco’s night.
Green Bay Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon had given Pacheco the business, rubbing his face in the Lambeau Field turf as fellow cornerback Corey Ballentine sprinted to the end zone for a replay-overturned fumble return score.
When Pacheco, who is nicknamed “Pop,” got to his feet, he lived up to that moniker with a shove to Nixon’s face.
The refs decided it was more of a punch and ejected Pacheco, though Nixon’s retaliatory shove to Pacheco’s facemask went unmentioned.
“You can’t do that,” Reid said. “We’ve got to be more composed than that. Even though the guy shoved his head into the dirt, you’ve got to stay composed on it.”
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes offered a slightly different take.
“I love the fire from ‘Pop,’ man,” Mahomes said. “That gets us going as an offense. Obviously, it got a flag in that situation, but we were already in a bad situation. I never want to take the passion away from a guy.”
Pacheco had 18 carries for 110 yards, but it’s the toughness of those yards and the energy he brings to the field that seems to rev up the Chiefs offense’s engine.
“He’ll learn from it,” Mahomes said. “I’m sure he won’t make that mistake again. But that’s the stuff that we need on this team in order to have the success that we want to have.”
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