The last couple of minutes in Sunday night’s game between the Chiefs and Packers were a mess for multiple reasons. But on one critical play, running back Isiah Pacheco got himself ejected by throwing a punch.
Pacheco got into it with cornerback Keisean Nixon after Rashee Rice had apparently fumbled and the ball was being returned. Nixon held Pacheco down for a little extra time and Pacheco clearly took exception to it, eventually throwing the punch that got him disqualified.
In his second season out of Rutgers, Pacheco had played one of his best games of the year to that point.
“Yeah, you can’t do that,” head coach Andy Reid said after the game. “You need to be more composed in that even though the guy shoved his head into the dirt. You have to stay composed on it.”
Despite the ejection, quarterback Patrick Mahomes said after the game that there are some positives the offense can take from Pacheco’s general attitude and demeanor on the field.
“I love the fire from ‘Pop,’ man,” Mahomes said in his press conference. “That gets us going as an offense. Obviously, it got a flag in the situation, but I mean we were already in a bad situation. I never want to take the passion away from a guy.
“He’ll learn from it. I’m sure he won’t make that mistake again. That’s the stuff that we need on this team in order to have the success that we want to have.”
Pacheco rushed for 110 yards with a touchdown on 18 carries in the contest, also catching three passes for 13 yards. In 12 games this season, he’s rushed for 779 yards with six touchdowns and caught 33 passes for 209 yards with a TD.
