Perhaps Patrick Mahomes' and Andy Reid's reactions to the Kadarius Toney offside call was more about the bigger picture than one specific perceived gaffe.
What would have been the craziest play of the season got called back, incensing Mahomes to a level we’ve never seen. With the ball just past midfield late in the fourth, Mahomes connected on a pass to Travis Kelce. With three Buffalo defenders closing in on Kelce, the tight end made the stunning decision to lateral the ball to Toney, who had a clear path to the end zone.
The score would have put the Chiefs up 23-20 with 1:12 left, but the play was called back because Toney was lined up offside before the play. It is a rare call to make, but there has been a rise in those flags this season and it’s clear that Toney was lined up in the neutral zone.
Mahomes and Andy Reid nevertheless were furious. This comes on the heels of a baffling non-call last week of a pass interference against Marquez Valdes-Scantling that secured a loss to the Packers.
Bob Fescoe said Monday on “Fescoe in the Morning” that the refs got the call right, and the reaction from the Chiefs had to have been due to the frustration of everything that has gone wrong boiling over.
“Yesterday was a microcosm I think of this entire season. There were drops again by the wide receivers, Kadarius Toney was lining up worse than Dee Ford ever could have,” Fescoe said. “When you see Patrick screaming and throwing his helmet and complaining about the referees, both him and Andy Reid are complaining about a correct call. They should have been complaining last week about the pass interference call that wasn’t called on MVS late in the game, and that kind of led to this, it was building. …
“That’s what that was yesterday with Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid. They’ve been doing all this all year, from the drops and the routes not being run the right way and everything just not being the way that we’re used to over the last five years. And then Kadarius Toney lines up offside, they make the right call and they lose their mind and Patrick Mahomes tells Josh Allen after the game ‘worst f-ing call I’ve ever seen.’
“It was absolutely, 100 percent the correct call. The emotion was there because they finally realized this isn’t going the way that we planned.”