NFL commissioner Roger Goodell stood up for the officiating crew Wednesday which ruled Kansas City Chiefs (8-5) receiver Kadarius Toney offsides to wipe out a would-be touchdown in the 20-17 Week 14 defeat to the Buffalo Bills (7-6) Sunday.
Goodell said the officiating crew got the call correct, despite cries from Kansas City’s side that the flag shouldn’t have been thrown on Toney.
“Well, I find it a little ironic when you say, ‘tension on officiating,’ when I think almost everybody, to my knowledge, is acknowledging the officials were absolutely correct,” Goodell said at the NFL owners meetings in Irving, Texas, via Pro Football Talk. “That’s their job — to call when there’s a foul. There was no question about that foul. It was absolutely the right call. If you don’t call that, obviously we would have been subject, our officials would have been subject to criticism also.
“So, we all understand our officials are second-guessed. I’ve said it many times to you before: They are not perfect. No human being is. But the reality is they do an extraordinary job. I find it ironic that I’m standing here answering a question about [when] the officials got it right, and they’re being criticized. I think it shows you how difficult it is to do their job. And I understand that and understand it comes with the job. The officials understand that. But I am incredibly proud about not just what they did at that game, but also what they continue to do.”
Chiefs’ Andy Reid admits Kadarius Toney was lined up offsides, didn’t check with referee before flag
The penalty in question came with 1:25 remaining in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes found tight end Travis Kelce over the middle of the field. Kelce then tossed a perfect lateral over to Toney as defenders converged on him. Toney scampered to the end zone for six, not knowing that the officials had thrown a flag at the start of the play. It was on Toney, who was lined up in an offsides position when the ball was snapped.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid called the offsides penalty “a bit embarrassing” for the NFL, a message echoed by Mahomes as well. After having nearly 24 hours to dissect the play further, Reid walked back his criticism, admitting that Toney failed to check with the referee to see if he was onsides before the play.
“Normally, he looks over to the sideline and just gets an OK,” Reid said Monday. “On that one, he just happened not to. That’s the coaching point. Just make sure you check with the guy on the side just to see if you’re aligned. I mean, he’s not lining up offsides on purpose. Listen, he was two inches or an inch from being legal. Like I said, you can argue both sides of it.”
Reid added that Toney needed to line up properly on the play.
“Do we need to line up right? Yeah, we do. We got to take care of that. We can’t put it in the officials’ hands,” Reid said.
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