The Kansas City Chiefs’ loss Sunday night against the Green Bay Packers featured plenty of drama and suspense in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. The bizarre scene involving running back Isiah Pacheco receiving a crucial penalty for punching a Green Bay player affected the team’s comeback attempt.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes witnessed firsthand the altercation while trying to protect against a potential fumble recovery from Green Bay. After the replay review overturned the Rashee Rice fumble, referees tacked a 15-yard penalty after Pacheco’s punch. During his postgame press conference, Mahomes stood by his starting running back and his passionate responses in games.

“I love the fire from Pop (Isiah Pacheco), man, that gets us going as an offense,” Mahomes said. “Obviously (he) got a flag in this situation. But I mean, we were already in a bad situation. So I never want to take the passion away from the guy. He’ll learn from it. 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.”

Pacheco was ejected from the game’s final minute because of the personal foul penalty, but the infraction didn’t hurt the team’s morale. The second-year running back secured his third career 100-plus-yard rushing game and a touchdown on Sunday night.