The Chiefs appeared to have a late, go-ahead touchdown against the Bills when Travis Kelce lateralled the ball to Kadarius Toney after a long reception and the third-year receiver waltzed into the end-zone untouched.
However, the score was called back by the officials because Toney had lined up offside on the play. Kansas City was never able to generate positive momentum after that penalty, and that allowed Buffalo’s defense to close out a 20-17 win.
The Chiefs, including Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes, expressed their displeasure with the call during their postgame news conferences.
“Normally I get a warning before that’s called,” Reid said. “A bit embarrassing for the National Football League for that to take place.”
MORE: How Kadarius Toney ruined Travis Kelce’s ‘legendary’ lateral TD pass vs. Bills
Despite those intimations from the Chiefs, referee Carl Cheffers believed it was the right call. He came out in defense of the down judge’s judgment in a postgame pool report.
“It’s one of those things we don’t want to be overly technical on, but when his alignment he’s lined up over the ball, that’s something that we are going to call as offensive offside,” Cheffers said of the call. “So that’s what the down judge saw. He saw that the alignment was over the ball and that’s what he ruled on the field. That’s what he called.”
Indeed, as Cheffers detailed, Toney was lined up beyond the back of the ball. That, by definition, requires officials to call an offensive offside, as was noted by former referee turned CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore, among others.
So while the Chiefs believed the call to be controversial, it was handled correctly. Toney had simply made a big mistake at the worst possible time.
Cheffers also explained that while Reid may have wanted a warning about the file, officials aren’t required to issue one, especially if the foul in question is “egregious.”
That meant the officials hadn’t bungled any procedural protocol before flagging Toney. They simply believed that he was far enough offside to warrant the flag.
MORE: Mad Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid blast officials for ending of Chiefs’ loss to Bills
Additionally, Cheffers explained that players are allowed to check with an official whether they are offside before the play. That gives them a chance to realign to avoid being penalized. Toney didn’t do that before the game-changing call, and he wasn’t close to being onside either.
“Ultimately, if they look for alignment advice, certainly we are going to give it to them. But ultimately, they are responsible for wherever they line up,” Cheffers said. “And, certainly, no warning is required, especially if they are lined up so far offsides where they’re actually blocking our view of the ball. So, we would give them some sort of a warning if it was anywhere close, but this particular one is beyond a warning.”
It’s easy to understand why the Chiefs were upset after Sunday’s game. They thought they had a key win under their belts but instead dropped to 8-5 on the season and 2-4 in their last six games.
That said, their anger with the call against Toney appears misplaced. The officials made the right call by definition, so Kansas City has nobody to blame but itself for the defeat.
