Andy Reid Confirms Unfortunate Truth About Kadarius Toney’s Late-Game Penalty

After plenty of speculation overnight, Kansas City's head coach elaborated on Sunday's most controversial moment.

The Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Buffalo Bills by three points in Week 14, and there were tons of avoidable mistakes that likely could have made up the difference for Andy Reid's squad. Kadarius Toney committing an offensive offsides infraction in the fourth quarter was one of them, and the play took the football world by storm on Sunday. 

Toney's penalty wiped out what would have been a go-ahead score for the home team, drawing plenty of postgame criticism from Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Referring to the decision to throw a flag without prior warning as "embarrassing," Reid was as upset as he's been in quite some time at the podium. Both head coach and signal-caller were more frustrated with no heads-up being provided far more than the call itself, although the two went hand-in-hand. On Sunday, there was also an assumption that Toney checked his alignment with officials beforehand. 

According to Reid when he spoke to the media on Monday afternoon, however, Toney did not check with down judge Mike Carr pre-snap. The flag ensued, eliminating one of the best plays of the 2023-24 season so far. 

"Yeah, so listen, normally he looks over to the sideline and just gets an O-K," Reid said. "On that one, he just happened not to, so that would be 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."

During his Monday presser, Reid reiterated on multiple occasions that he feels he has a good "working relationship" with in-game officials and has for years. When there's a problem to be corrected, he does his best to nip it in the bud by immediately speaking to whichever player is operating in the gray area. In turn, that perspective led him to be more "disappointed" that he wasn't communicated with before a flag was thrown during the game. 

In the postgame pool report with Matt Derrick of Chiefs Digest, NFL senior vice president of officiating Walt Anderson and referee Carl Cheffers expanded on the Toney penalty. During that period, it was confirmed that Toney's alignment was viewed as "egregious" and he wasn't required to be notified of his transgression. The play unfolded without any initial correction, thus making any subsequent yardage or points gained a moot point.

It's been a rough season for Toney, who came over from the New York Giants last year via trade. Touted as a potential No. 1 wideout entering this season, the 24-year-old has just 25 receptions for 164 yards and a score this season. His 195 scrimmage yards rank 11th on the team, trailing star contributors (Travis Kelce) and depth pieces (Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Jerick McKinnon) alike. This year has brought the exact opposite of what the team expected for Toney, although Reid isn't losing faith publicly. Even after a game-changing mistake from the former first-round pick, Reid is trying to find the positives. 

"Well the thing I know, Adam (Teicher), is he makes plays," Reid said. "He makes plays when he has the ball in his hand. That's the important part. He's a young guy — he's not coming to us with a ton of experience. I think he's getting better every week. This is one of those things, Adam, but I don't see that as being a negative. I look at the things he produced on, too."

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