When one of the Kansas City Chiefs players was offsides, a perfectly fine touchdown that could have won the game was ruined, leaving the fans stunned and furious.
The Buffalo Bills won at Arrowhead Stadium as a result of the play because the Chiefs were unable to score a touchdown following the penalty call.
One of the irate Kansas City supporters in the crowd was Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who mockingly tagged a video she took of the referee with the hashtag “MVP.”
Travis Kelce was wide open downfield by Mahomes during one of the game’s last plays. In a flash of lightning, Kelce dodged tacklers and found receiver Kadarius Toney unguarded. Toney got clear space and sprinted into the end zone for a score after the tight end lateraled the ball to him.
Toney, however, lined up in the neutral zone, with his feet on and ahead of the line of scrimmage, which resulted in the play being called back.
A late touchdown was overturned by the referees because WR Kadarius Toney (circled) was offsides.
Mahomes’ rage at the officials for making what was, in retrospect, the correct call might get him into more problems even though his emotions may have sprung from displeasure at the outcome—a 20-17 loss to a club they have faced frequently. This was particularly true when he discussed the call at his news conference after the game, stating that officials are “human, they make mistakes.” However, we discuss something every week.
The referees’ failure to alert the Chiefs to Toney’s offside appeared to be the source of their ire.
But according to what former NFL referee John Parry told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt, Toney has the responsibility to confirm with the line judge because the call was valid.
Parry declared, “His right foot is ahead of the ball and ahead of the center’s head, so he’s offside.” He went on to say that Toney would probably correct the error if he only checked.
It is traditional to issue a warning, but according to referee Carl Cheffers, “no warning is required, especially if they are lined up so far offsides where they’re blocking our view of the ball,” after the game.
Gene Steratore, a former NFL referee and CBS Rules Analyst, tweeted, “A flag has to be thrown when an infraction is so egregious and obvious.” Kadarius Toney is in the neutral zone and offside.
This play in #BUFvsKC is a foul, but it doesn’t mean there isn’t usually an offsides penalty on the offensive end of the play. This is due to the rarity of receivers lining up offsides.