CBS didn’t have a clear video of Chiefs receiver Kadarius Toney lining up offside prior to a key touchdown that his penalty nullified. Someone else did.
Michael Howard (@MichaelMUSEA) posted it on X (via Bleacher Report). Shot on a phone from the stands, it’s almost directly down the line. It shows the huddle break. It shows Toney line up in the slot. It shows him glance toward the down marker designating the line of scrimmage. It shows Toney point with his left hand.
It does not show the down judge, Mike Carr, providing any feedback to Toney as to whether he was or wasn’t lined up properly.
It also shows Toney, even after adjusting his lead foot as he settles in, clearly offside.
And then it shows Carr immediately throwing a flag for Toney’s foul.
As the dispositive photo demonstrates, two hash marks made it easy for Toney to see where he should, and shouldn’t, be. One hash mark was near his foot. The other was near the ball.
And yet Toney was still lined up wrong.
It’s on him, not the officials. He was sloppy. He wasn’t detail-oriented. He made an assumption. Not a good one.
In a season that has featured plenty of bad officiating, the blame for this one goes to the player who didn’t line up properly.
It’s unfortunate that the Chiefs tried to start a narrative premised on the officials making another mistake, when the mistake clearly was made by Toney.
