See what I did there?
In one of the best quarterback matchups the NFL has to offer, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen faced off in week 14 Sunday night football. Neck-and-neck for nearly the entire game, the fate of the score ended up on the shoulders of one player, unfortunately for the Chiefs: WR Kadarius Toney. Aside from Mahomes’s sideline meltdown and off-putting post-game interaction with Allen, there is so much wrong with this entire situation. Let’s talk about it.
Honestly, where do we even begin? Breaking it down from the very beginning of the play, you can see that Toney is very obviously offside. In fact, a step further, and he would be nearly indistinguishable from a Bills defensive lineman.
Photo via CBS Sports.
Now, why Toney didn’t check with an official is beyond me, but more on that later.
With 1:14 in the 4th quarter to spare, Mahomes passes deep right to Kelce for 25 yards. Kelce, surrounded on all sides, completes a stunning lateral to none other than Kadarius Toney, who strides unobstructed into the end zone for what seems to be a game-winning touchdown.
Unfortunately for the Chiefs, the offsides penalty (denoted with a flag at the initial snap) negated the entire play. Enter: a Mahomes meltdown. Yelling at officials, throwing his helmet, and even complaining to Bills QB Josh Allen while still on the field? Yikes.
In the post-game press conference, both Mahomes and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid expressed disdain for the officials’ decision to reverse the touchdown because of Toney’s penalty. Mahomes believed that Toney “probably is barely offsides” and that his being offside wouldn’t have affected the outcome of the play. Now, we can go back and forth on whether or not the extra few feet worked to Toney’s advantage, but that’s not the most important factor in this argument.
Unfortunately for Patrick Mahomes, the way this works is that the penalty was on Toney, who scored the touchdown, and the flag was thrown at the beginning of the play. So… yeah, it actually does impact the outcome of the play in that regard.
Still, why the tears, Pat? Let’s break it down further.
Andy Reid also expressed confusion as to why no official warned Toney about how far offside he was. Referee Carl Cheffers responded to the criticism, “No warning is required, especially if they are lined up so far offside where they’re actually blocking our view of the ball,” he said. “We would give them some sort of a warning if it was anywhere close, but this particular one was beyond warning.” Not to mention that every person on that line of scrimmage knows to check with an official if they are unsure.
ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky broke down the rest of the game, and concluded that Toney was offside several times throughout the game, in the very same position that ultimately cost the Chiefs their game-winning touchdown. This is where it starts to make more sense from the Chiefs’ POV. Toney was consistently making the same mistake the whole game, but not one ref called it until the end?
Honestly, I get it– to an extent. It’s frustrating. But honestly, if one penalty is the difference between a win and a loss for you, man, you already lost the game a long time ago. And let’s not forget how a similar situation is actually what allowed Kansas City to win Super Bowl LVII against Philadelphia with a late holding call on Eagles cornerback James Bradberry. I think that’s what they call “Karma.”
The Kansas City Chiefs will face off against the New England Patriots December 17th. In the meantime, it might be more beneficial to the Chiefs to redirect their disappointment to their professional receiver who can’t seem to line up correctly.
What are your thoughts? Let me know down below!
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