Chiefs coach fined $150,000 for comments on Kadarius Toney Issues…
Kansas City coach Andy Reid has been fined $100,000 by the NFL for his postgame comments about an offside penalty against Chiefs wide receiver Kadarius Toney late in Sunday’s 20-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
The NFL also fined Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes $50,000 for violating the prohibition against abusive, threatening or insulting language to officials.
With the Chiefs trailing the Bills by three points with 1:25 to play on Sunday, Mahomes connected with tight end Travis Kelce on a second-and-10 throw from the Buffalo 49-yard line. Still more than 20 yards from the end zone and with Bills defenders converging on him in the middle of the field, Kelce made a backward pass to Toney, and the former Blount High School quarterback raced down the sideline to put Kansas City in front with 1:12 remaining.
But the down judge had dropped a flag as soon as the football had been snapped, and the play was nullified by an offensive-offside penalty against Toney.
“It was a heck of a football game down to the end,” Reid said during his postgame press conference. “I’m very disappointed it ended the way it did. I never use any of this as excuses, but normally I get a warning before something like that happens in a big game. A bit embarrassing in the National Football League for that to take place.
“Normally, if it’s even close, you get a warning. The head coach gets a warning normally, so I don’t know. I didn’t have a protractor out there, but it’s a bit embarrassing.”
Mahomes also didn’t think the infraction merited a flag.
“It’s obviously tough to swallow, not only for me, but for football in general,” Mahomes said during his postgame press conference. “To take away greatness like that, for a guy like Travis to make a play like that. And who knows if we win? But I know as fans, you want to see the guys on the field decide the game. …
“They’re human. They make mistakes. But every week we’re talking about something. …
“It’s the call, man. Just in that moment. It’s not even for myself or me. It’s just I know how much everybody puts into this game, and for it to happen on a flag, change the outcome of a game in that moment – I’ve played seven years and never had offensive offsides called. I mean, 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. There was no warning throughout the entire game. And then you wait until there’s a minute left in the game to make a call like that? It’s tough, man. I mean, lost for words, man, because it’s tough. Regardless of if we win or lose, man, just for it to end with another game and we’re talking about the refs, not what we want for the NFL and for football.”
After the game, referee Carl Cheffers said officials are under no obligation to warn players or coaches about potential alignment violations, particular one as “egregious” as Toney’s.
During the week, Reid acknowledged Toney did not check with an official to see if he was lined up properly, but the wide receiver said he should have been alerted by the officials instead of penalized.
