Roger Goodell explains why the Chiefs were given the penalty that made Patrick Mahomes mad: “I find it funny”
In the last two minutes, a Chiefs score was called back because of a penalty before the snap.
Video of the call shows that receiver Kadarius Toney was offside on the play that cost the Colts a 20–17 loss against the Buffalo Bills.
At first, Mahomes and Andy Reid, the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, didn’t like how the officials punished Toney for a flag regarding which he wasn’t warned before the snap.
The NFL doesn’t require officials to tell players about violations that happen before the snap, but some officials believe it’s important to do so as part of “preventative” refereeing.
Goodell agreed with the call that Toney was offsides, even though it happened in the last two minutes for a game and could have changed the outcome.
Goodell said this on Wednesday in response to a question about how ironic it was that the officials were getting it right while being criticized.
In a press conference at the league’s winter meetings on Wednesday, Goodell said, “As far as I know, almost everyone agrees that the officials were right.”
“It’s their job to call a foul.” That foul was clear. It was the right thing to do. People would have said bad things about our leaders if you didn’t call that.
In a pool report to Kansas City after the game, referee Carl Cheffers said that officials “don’t want to be overly technical” when calling attacking offside. However, the down judge saw that Toney’s “alignment was over the ball,” which is a foul.
Cheffers agreed that if Toney had asked the official if he was offsides, the official would have told him he was.
Cheffers said, “In the end, if they asked for alignment advice, we would have to give it to them.”
“But in the end, they are in charge of where they line up.” Of course, they don’t need to be warned, especially if they’re so far offside that they’re blocking our view of the ball.
“If it were even close, we would give these individuals some kind of warning, but this one is too far gone for that.” “If it’s bad enough, there would be no warning.”
In the days that followed, both Reid and Mahomes took back what they said. Mahomes downplayed his criticism of Toney and apologized to Bills qb Josh Allen as well as his children for telling Allen after the game which the call was “f***ing terrible.”
Goodell said that even though NFL officials are “second-guessed,” he’s “incredibly proud” of their work.
He also thinks that the better technology that lets fans look more closely at refereeing also shows “how many times… that they’re right.”
“They won’t always be good. “No person is,” Goodell said. “However, the truth is that they do a fantastic job.”
It’s funny that I’m here addressing a question about when the officials did the right thing while they’re being criticized.
It was at the NFL’s winter meetings in Dallas that Goodell was asked about the now-famous offside call on Kansas City Chiefs receiver Kadarius Toney. Goodell defended the officials.
Late in the fourth quarter, the play in question took place. The Buffalo Bills beat Kansas City 20–17.
Before the image of the ball was snapped, Toney didn’t check via the line official to ensure that sure he was in the right place, but it looked like he was.
Brady then threw a deep pass to Travis Kelce, a tight end. Kelce moved the ball a few steps and then threw a cross-field pass to Toney, who ran to the end zone.