Ex-Steelers All-Pro Le'Veon Bell picks sides in debate around Patrick Mahomes' flop

Former Pittsburgh Steelers star running back Le'Veon Bell picked his side in the debate around Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes' alleged flop in the divisional round.

As Mahomes got hit near the sidelines, many fans felt like he flopped to try and draw a penalty, which frustrated many fans.

Many non-Chiefs fans claimed the refs are always on Mahomes' side as he gets every call. However, Bell said the flop was smart as trying to get a penalty and yards is key.

"Say what you want, but this smart if you ask me .. lol," Bell wrote on X.

The former first-team All-Pro thinks Mahomes was smart by trying to flop to gain the penalty yardage which helped the Chiefs' offense.

Patrick Mahomes ended up going 16-for-25 for 177 yards and a touchdown in the 23-14 win over the Houston Texans.

Troy Aikman calls out refs for penalties against Patrick Mahomes

Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs got two questionable unnecessary roughness calls to help drives continue.

Mahomes was running around and slide very late as two Texans defenders dove, and barely made contact with him. However, the ref decided to throw a flag which didn't make Troy Aikman happy at all.

“Oh, come on,” Aikman said as Martin announced the penalty. “I mean, he’s a runner. I could not disagree with that one more. He barely gets hit.”

Russell York agreed with Aikman:

“The two Houston players hit each other. That should not have been a foul.”

Aikman said he hoped the league looked into such fouls in the offseason:

“They’ve gotta address it in the offseason. You can’t, as a quarterback, run around and play games with defenders and then be able to draw a penalty.”

Ultimately, Aikman wasn't alone as even Houston Texans players said they were going up against the refs.

With all things said, Mahomes and the Chiefs still did enough to get a big win at home and advance to the AFC Championship Game.

The Chiefs will now play the Buffalo Bills at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. EST in the AFC Championship Game. Kansas City is a 1.5-point favorite.