Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid appeared to make a crucial mistake by not challenging a play early in his team’s divisional round playoff game against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
The Bills had third-and-17 at their own 28-yard line early in the first quarter. Josh Allen scrambled several yards past the line of scrimmage before turning and throwing a pass to running back Ty Johnson. Johnson was pushed out of bounds just short of the line to gain.
In real time, it looked like Allen’s pass went backwards. However, replays appeared to show that Johnson caught the ball further down the field than the spot where Allen released it, which would be an illegal forward pass.
Allen was way ahead of Johnson when he threw the the pass, which is why it seemed like a legal lateral. If you freeze the video where Allen released the ball and when Johnson caught it, however, it becomes a lot less clear.
Reid chose not to challenge the ruling on the field. The Bills quickly rushed to the line of scrimmage, and Josh Allen executed a successful QB sneak for a first down on fourth-and-1. Had Reid challenged and won, the Bills probably would have gone on to punt.
Buffalo finished the drive with a field goal, so the damage was not as bad as it could have been. Reid may have felt that the play was too close to risk wasting a challenge so early.
Reid’s decision to not throw the challenge flag was not quite as egregious as what we saw happen with the Detroit Lions earlier in the day.
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