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Teammate after teammate tried their best to slow down Patrick Mahomes — his movement toward down judge Mike Carr, the blistering expletives he shouted at the entire officiating crew and his almost unbridled fury — after the Kansas City Chiefs experienced another gut-punch of a loss Sunday.
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Once Mahomes, the Chiefs’ star quarterback, began exhaling, he was surrounded by tight end Blake Bell, left guard Joe Thuney, rookie left tackle Wanya Morris, right guard Trey Smith and center Creed Humphrey.
With one minute remaining, the scoreboards at Arrowhead Stadium showed the Buffalo Bills leading 20-17 with possession of the ball. Mahomes and everyone else on the Chiefs’ sideline, however, felt they should have been leading the Bills by at least three points before an extra-point attempt. Instead, the Chiefs’ most impressive offensive play of the season — an across-the-field lateral from tight end Travis Kelce leading to a potential game-winning touchdown — was marred by a penalty, a flag thrown by Carr.
In a cruel twist for everyone who donned red at Arrowhead, the player who committed the offside penalty was the same player who scored the touchdown: receiver Kadarius Toney.
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Toney lined up in the neutral zone before the play, a second-and-10 snap from the Bills’ 49-yard line during the Chiefs’ two-minute drill. If Toney had started the play in the proper spot, he would’ve benefited from one of the most impressive, instinctual plays of the season by Kelce, who caught an intermediate pass from Mahomes, evaded two defenders for a 25-yard gain and then stunned the Bills by unleashing a perfect lateral pass across to the field. Toney, who was wide open, caught Kelce’s pass and was never touched as he sprinted into the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown, a score that would’ve given the Chiefs the lead with 1:25 left in the game.
“It’s obviously tough to swallow, not only for me but just for football in general, to take away greatness like that, for a guy like Travis to make a play like that,” Mahomes told reporters after the game. “Who knows if we win? I know, as fans, you want to see the guys on the field decide the game.”
Kelce's spiral though! pic.twitter.com/rnqV1YKcTm
— NFL UK (@NFLUK) December 11, 2023
Once Toney’s penalty nullified the viral highlight, the Chiefs never gained another yard. Each of Mahomes’ final three passes fell incomplete.
Toney’s mistake was just the latest by a Chiefs receiver this season. The list includes pre-snap penalties, bad adjustments on deep routes and dropped passes. Rather than discuss Toney’s error, though, Mahomes and coach Andy Reid spent most of their postgame comments criticizing Carr, referee Carl Cheffers and the rest of the officiating crew.
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“Very disappointed that it ended the way it did,” Reid said. “I never use any of this as excuses, but normally I get a warning before something like that happens in a big game. A bit embarrassing in the National Football League for that to take place. If it’s even close, the head coach gets a warning. It’s a bit embarrassing. I’ve been in the league a long time, and I haven’t had one like that.”
Reid and Mahomes both said Carr should’ve warned Toney that he had lined up in the neutral zone before the play began, a courtesy some line judges or down judges give to ensure receivers and cornerbacks are in the correct spot. Mahomes, the league’s reigning MVP, stressed multiple times that he thought Carr’s decision to penalize Toney without a warning changed the outcome of the game.
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“It’s the call, man, just in that moment,” Mahomes said. “It’s not even for me. I just know how much everybody puts into this game. I’ve played seven years and have never had offensive offsides called. That’s elementary school. We talk about it: You point to the (line judge or down judge) and it doesn’t get called. If it does, then they warn you.
“There was no warning throughout the entire game. Then you wait until there’s a minute left in the game to make a call like that? It’s tough, man. (I’m at) a loss for words. Regardless if we win or lose, just for it to end with another game where we’re talking about the refs, man, it’s just not what we want for the NFL and for football.”
Frustration appears to be growing for Patrick Mahomes pic.twitter.com/0z48D67jKL
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 11, 2023
Last week, the Chiefs felt they didn’t receive fair treatment from a different officiating crew in the final minute of their 27-19 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
That game’s penultimate play — when receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling appeared to be interfered with by rookie cornerback Carrington Valentine but a penalty wasn’t called — ended in a controversial incompletion. After the game, Mahomes decided to be diplomatic, choosing to not condemn the officials. He instead explained that he felt he should’ve thrown his deep pass better, placing the ball farther to the left and away from the defender to increase Valdes-Scantling’s chance of making the reception.
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“(The officials) are human, man,” Mahomes said after Sunday’s game. “They make mistakes, but it’s every week we’re talking about something. All I can do is go out there and give everything I have. I’m proud of the guys because that’s what we did. Another great game that just ends like that is just tough.
“Let us play the game, man. And then whatever happens, happens. That’s what hurts me. You want it to be about your team and that team and see what happens. Then, I can live with the results.”
Late in Sunday’s game against the Bills, Mahomes noticed Carr throwing his flag at the start of the pivotal second-down play. Mahomes thought Carr was penalizing one of the Bills’ defensive linemen for being offside, a penalty that would’ve given him a free play to throw the ball downfield, which led to his decision to target Kelce.
Before he raged on the sideline, Mahomes said he approached three officials to get an explanation for Toney’s penalty. Mahomes said all three officials declined his request.
Patrick Mahomes might need a new helmet pic.twitter.com/KNZTvexKRK
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 11, 2023
“I saw the picture — and (Toney) probably is barely offside,” Mahomes said. “But for (Carr) to take the game into his hands over a call like that, that doesn’t affect the play at all — at all, didn’t affect anything — is just tough, man.”
CBS’ cameras didn’t show Toney, or any of the other Chiefs’ pass catchers, pointing to Carr or line judge Thomas Eaton before the second-down snap to get confirmation they lined up in the proper spot. After the game, Cheffers, in a pool report, explained that Carr didn’t have to give Toney a warning before the play.
“Ultimately, they are responsible for wherever they line up,” Cheffers said of Toney. “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 warning if it was anywhere close, but this particular one is beyond a warning.”
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Within seconds of Cheffers announcing Toney’s penalty, eliciting groans from the home crowd, CBS analyst Tony Romo shared his simple analysis for why the Chiefs left Arrowhead with an 8-5 record.
“These receivers can’t get out of the way of hurting this team,” Romo said. “Too many times at the end of the game.”
"These receivers can't get out of the way of hurting the team." – Tony Romo pic.twitter.com/9ORripv9Z1
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 11, 2023
Each of the Chiefs’ five losses has involved poor execution by their receivers.
• Toney dropped multiple passes, including one that led to an interception return for a touchdown, in the season-opening loss to the Detroit Lions.
• Skyy Moore dropped a perfect pass from Mahomes on fourth-and-2 in the end zone in the loss to the Denver Broncos. In the same game, Valdes-Scantling also fumbled the ball away.
• Valdes-Scantling dropped a potential game-winning touchdown in the final minutes of the Chiefs’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
• Against the Packers, Mahomes and Valdes-Scantling failed to complete a deep pass in the fourth quarter that would’ve put the Chiefs in scoring range. On the next play, a third-down snap, Mahomes watched his intended target, receiver Richie James, fall down while running his route in the middle of the field.
Mahomes is also clearly frustrated because the team’s chances of earning the AFC’s top playoff seed — including home-field advantage and a first-round bye — are slipping away. The Chiefs have lost four of their last six games, and their odds of finishing atop the AFC have dropped to just 11.4 percent, according to The Athletic’s Austin Mock.
After the game, Toney wasn’t available to speak with reporters. Kelce also declined to speak to reporters. Mahomes expressed one more reason for his vitriol toward Carr: He believes Kelce’s incredible highlight will soon be forgotten.
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“That’s a Hall of Fame tight end making a Hall of Fame play that won’t be shown because (Carr) threw a flag for an offensive offsides,” Mahomes said of Kelce. “It takes away from not only this game in this season but from a legendary career that Travis has had. That hurts me because I know how hard he works for it.
“It’s a legendary moment, man. It’s something that’s not taught. It’s something only a couple people in this world would even think about doing. For him to make that play … in that moment, I hope they still show it whenever he goes into the Hall of Fame.”
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(Photo of Patrick Mahomes: Denny Medley / USA Today)
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