Sunday’s Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills game ended in controversy. With the Chiefs trailing 20-17 late and driving, All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce caught a pass and then made a lateral to wide receiver Kadarius Toney, who scored.
The play itself was amazing, and before the over 76,000 raucous Chiefs Kingdom fans could begin to celebrate, the play was called back for Toney being offsides at the snap.
It’s not often you see the referees call an offensive player offsides, but in this instance it was definitely warranted. Toney was completely across the line of scrimmage, and while head coach Andy Reid says he’d never seen it called in his now over 25,000 plays called in his career, it was on Sunday night, and it was correct call.
Much to the chagrin of those packed into Arrowhead Stadium and especially superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who for some reason took major offense with the call.
The two-time MVP and Super Bowl MVP even mentioned it to Bills quarterback Josh Allen as the two met at midfield for a handshake at game’s end.
“Wildest f—ing call I’ve ever seen,” Mahomes was heard saying. “ Offensive offsides on that play man. F—ing terrible.”
On Monday he told 610 Sports in Kansas City this….
“Obviously, you don’t want to react that way. I mean, I care, man. I love this game. I love my teammates.”
Mahomes Frustration Should Be With Toney
Seeing Mahomes upset, swearing and throwing his helmet isn’t something we’re used to seeing.
After some reflection, Mahomes did eventually apologize for the way he reacted towards the refs and QB Josh Allen during the postgame handshake exchange.
“More than anything, I regret the way I acted towards Josh after the game because he had nothing to do with it,” Mahomes said during an interview with 610Sports. “I was still hot and emotional, but you can’t do that, man.”
As a role model, he also apologized for the bad example he set for the kids.
“Obviously you don’t want to ever react that way. I mean, I care man. I love it. I love this game. I love my teammates, and I want to go out there and put everything on the line to win. Obviously can’t do that. You can’t be that way towards officials or really anybody in life. So probably regret acting like that,” Mahomes said. “Not a great example for kids watching the game, so I was more upset about that than I was about me on the sidelines.”
Mahomes Is Frustrated With Close Losses
The frustration has been mounting for weeks, and it seems as if Sunday’s failures pushed him over the edge. All season, his receivers have let him down, and no one has been more disappointing than Toney, whose only claim to fame is he holds the record for longest punt return (65 yards) in a Super Bowl.
The Chiefs let JuJu Smith-Schuster leave via free agency and decided against signing a proven veteran in his place. They instead opted to have Toney be their de facto No.1 receiver, and thus far this season that’s been an unmitigated disaster.
The talented-but-inconsistent Toney has either been out of the lineup with injuries, dropping passes, or running the wrong routes.
He has a grand total of 25 receptions for 164 yards and one touchdown. Not exactly what Chiefs brass had in mind when they vouched for him in the offseason.
Mahomes Should Be Mad At Kadarius Toney, Andy Reid And GM Brett Veach, Not Refs
Sunday’s gaffe was just his latest blunder and it cost his team a win. Mahomes should be upset with Toney and the K.C. receivers who’ve dropped a league-leading (33 passes) this season, including Toney’s team-leading six drops.
In many ways Reid and Brett Veach let the greatness of Mahomes cloud their judgment. No way could they have believed that this group of receivers with an aging Travis Kelce (four drops) was good enough to get back to another Super Bowl.
They had a chance to get future Hall of Fame WR DeAndre Hopkins, but didn’t think they needed him.
The emergence of rookie Rashee Rice (59 receptions for 664 yards and six touchdowns) is about the only thing that keeps this group from nosediving. This unit has single-handedly cost K.C. three or four wins this season, and it’s a shame because they’re playing the best defense of the Patrick Mahomes era.
No way Mahomes took that now-discounted contract in 2020 for this to be the best group of receivers the front office assembled.
