The Chiefs were furious that an offside penalty on Kadarius Toney wiped out what could have been a game-winning touchdown in today’s loss to the Bills. But referee Carl Cheffers defended the call.
Speaking to a pool reporter afterward, Cheffers was asked about Chiefs head coach Andy Reid saying that the Chiefs should have been warned if Toney was lining up offside. Cheffers said that if it had been close the Chiefs might have gotten a warning, but Toney was so far offside that it needed to be flagged.
“Yes, ultimately, if they looked for alignment advice, certainly we are going to give it to them,” Cheffers said. “But ultimately, they are responsible for wherever they line up. And, certainly, no warning is required, especially if they are lined up so far offsides where they’re actually blocking our view of the ball. So, we would give them some sort of a warning if it was anywhere close, but this particular one is beyond a warning.”
The penalty overturned what could have been the play of the year in the NFL, with Travis Kelce catching a pass from Patrick Mahomes before lateraling to Toney for the touchdown. But the flag was thrown, and the officials are standing by it.
