Mahomes, Reid call out referees after Toney offsides call
The Kansas City Chiefs are in unfamiliar territory after their defeat to Buffalo.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) — The Kansas City Chiefs are in unfamiliar territory after their defeat against Buffalo, losing three of their last four games and sitting two games back of the AFC number 1-seed.
It's also another game magnified by a crucial late-game mistake by a Chiefs wide receiver, or a call or non-call by an official.
When the Chiefs had the ball with just over a minute left on second and 10, Patrick Mahomes found Travis Kelce for a 25-yard gain on the right side of the field. After Kelce caught the pass, he threw a lateral across the field to Kadarius Toney, who finished the play with what would have been a touchdown.
But Toney was called offsides before the snap, nullifying the touchdown. The Chiefs turned the ball over on downs two plays later, ending the game.
Mahomes left the field furious, throwing his helmet on the sideline in frustration with the officials.
Head coach Andy Reid and Mahomes shared those frustrations after the game.
"Normally, if it's even close, you get a warning. The head coach gets a warning," Reid said referring to Toney being lined up offside. "I don't know. I didn't have a protractor out there. It's a bit embarrassing. I've been in the league a long time and I haven't had one like that. At least for that kind of position there, it's not given a heads up to."
Mahomes expressed similar sentiments.
"Obviously, tough to swallow. Not only for me but just for football in general, to take away greatness like that. For a guy like Travis to make a play like that," Mahomes said. "Who knows if we win? I know as fans you want to see the guys on the field decide the game. That's why last week, I didn't say anything about the flag that didn't get called on Marquez [Valdes-Scantling]."
Mahomes said it was the first time in his NFL career that offensive offsides has been called career and that none of the refs gave him an explanation.
"I've played seven years and never had offensive offsides called. That's elementary school. You point to the ref, do all that different type of stuff and it doesn't get called, and if it does, they warn you, and there was no warning throughout the entire game, and then you wait until there's a minute left in the game, you make a call like that," he said.
"It's tough, man. Lost for words, man. Regardless of if we win or lose, just for it to end with another game and we're talking about the refs. That's just not what we want for the NFL and for football."
Receivers typically check with the officials and are warned whether they are lined up correctly.
"I asked three different refs. No one said anything," Mahomes said.
In the pool report, referee Carl Cheffers, who has a history of making questionable calls in Chiefs games, said if receivers look for alignment advice, they will give it to them, but players are responsible for where they line up.
“No warning is required especially if they are lined up so far offsides where they’re actually blocking our view of the ball,” Cheffers said in the report. “We would give them some sort of a warning if it was anywhere close, but this particular one is beyond a warning.”
“That’s what the down judge saw," he said. "He saw that the alignment was over the ball and that’s what he ruled on the field.”
There have been 13 offensive offside penalties in the NFL this season, with only three coming last season and none in 2021.
The Chiefs are now only one game ahead of the Denver Broncos in the AFC West, and they are two games out of the one seed in the AFC, behind the Baltimore Ravens and possibly the Miami Dolphins if they beat the Tennessee Titans on Monday.
The Chiefs own the tiebreaker over the Ravens and Dolphins. They currently are the third seed and sit at 8-5.
They will look to get back on the right foot when they head to Foxborough to face the New England Patriots next Sunday at noon.