Kansas City seethes. Crazy scene in Kansas City as the clock wound down on Buffalo’s 20-17 win. Patrick Mahomes went uncharacteristically batcrap on the sidelines, enraged by a call that nullified what could have been the winning touchdown with 1:12 to play. Mahomes, on the play, threw from Buffalo’s 49- to Travis Kelce at the 25-, and before he could be tackled, Kelce threw a perfect backward pass to Kadarius Toney, who sprinted in for the touchdown. The crowd went bonkers at the oddity and the clutchness of such an incredible play, called at a perfect time.
Uh-oh. Flag. Offensive offside was called on Toney. An odd call—flagged once in 2021, twice in 2022, and 12 times this year, increasing because of the many times offensive linemen try to get an edge on the Tush Push maul of a quarterback sneak. Toney was clearly offside. “He was past the ball,” said NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay Sunday night. “It was not close. This had to be called. It was blatant.”
Andy Reid was steaming because he said officials always give teams warnings before violations like this. The replay on CBS showed Toney clearly over the line of scrimmage. One former official told me Sunday night it wouldn’t be uncommon early in a game for coaches and players to be warned on a play like this, but he said it wouldn’t happen later in the game, particularly on a clear violation such as this. The ref, Carl Cheffers, told a pool reporter: “Certainly, no warning is required, especially if they’re lined up so far offside where they’re actually blocking our view of the ball. We would give them some sort of warning if it was anywhere close, but this particular one is beyond a warning.” The pool reporter asked if it was an egregious violation. “Correct,” Cheffers said.
The play in this game that looked more egregious: the Latavius Murray bobbled catch ruled a catch on the field and not overturned. It’s ludicrous that was affirmed on replay review, because Murray never had clear possession. Another Sunday, another bunch of hissy fits over questionable calls. No end in sight.
The 53rd man. Bill Parcells used to spend a ton of time in training camp and during the season on end-of-the-roster players. He’d say once or twice every year, the last man or two on the roster would win or lose a game for every team in the league. Prescient words on Sunday. Tylan Wallace was that man for Baltimore at roster cutdown in training camp. For the Ravens, the last roster spot came down to sixth-round rookie corner Kyu Blu Kelly or Wallace, who was a wide receiver and special-teams player. Baltimore could have kept five receivers and an extra corner, Kelly. But Wallace, a fourth-round pick in 2021, had a great camp and just outplayed Kelly in special-teams roles. So Baltimore kept Wallace as the sixth receiver and special-teamer, and cut Kelly. On Sunday, regular returner Devin Duvernay got hurt and Wallace, for the first time since his sophomore year at Oklahoma State five years and two months ago, returned punts. Wallace’s 76-yard punt return for a touchdown in overtime beat the Rams 37-31. For a day, anyway, the 53rd man on the roster catapulted Baltimore to the top seed in the AFC.
3-0. What a crazy game in Las Vegas. Minnesota’s Greg Joseph kicked a 36-yard field goal with 1:57 left in the game, and those were the only points. Only one of the 23 drives in the game traveled 50 yards or more. The emerging star from the game was Vikings undrafted rookie linebacker Ivan Pace Jr., who led all defenders with 13 tackles. He picked off Aidan O’Connell’s pass intended for Davante Adams on the first play after the Joseph field goal. The 5-10 Pace doesn’t lack confidence. “I knew they were throwing it to Davante,” Pace said. “He’s their best player. Best player out there. Bad throw. Bad throw by the rookie.” Good catch by the rookie. Pace has been so instinctive since arriving in training camp that when he won the middle linebacker job, defensive coordinator Brian Flores gave him the green dot on the back of his helmet—noting that he’d be calling the defensive signals mic’d in via headset from the sidelines. “Give a rookie that green dot is kind of wild,” Pace said. “Showed they’ve got faith in me. I know I can do it. I got that dog in me.”
Read more in Peter King’s full Football Morning in America column.
