Photo by William Purnell/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Once again, a player lining up offsides spoiled a possible Kansas City victory. With the New England Patriots enjoying a mini-bye coming off their Thursday win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, they sure kept a close on the Kansas City Chiefs’ game against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. Both clubs are still on the team’s schedule, starting with the upcoming Sunday afternoon matchup with those very Chiefs. What the Patriots saw on Sunday might have taken them back to the 2018 AFC Championship Game. One of the most memorable playoff games in recent memory, saw New England outlast the top-seeded Chiefs 37-31 in overtime en route to their sixth championship. In both games — Sunday’s against Buffalo and that playoff meeting with the Patriots — the Chiefs were burned by a late penalty due to one of their players lining up offsides. Versus Buffalo, that player was wide receiver Kadarius Toney. His infraction, which sparked a fiery reaction from Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid after the game, was quite obvious. What hurt the most, however, was the fact that it took a potential game-winning touchdown off the board: Play was called back but can't believe Kelce tried this: #BUFvsKC on CBS
: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/pWMED8SAQa pic.twitter.com/LREwwhaQ1N— NFL (@NFL) December 11, 2023 From a Chiefs perspective the debate post-game centered around whether a flag was warranted. Toney was clearly offsides, but Reid was unhappy with the handling of the entire situation; he would have wanted the official to notify either himself or his player of the infraction that was about to take place. “I never use any of this as an excuse, 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,” Reid said after the eventual 20-17 loss. “Normally, if it’s even close, you get a warning. The head coach gets a warning. So, I don’t know, I didn’t have a protractor out there, but it’s a bit embarrassing.” Reid sang a similar tune back in January 2019. The situation that day was quite similar, only that his team was on defense. Back then, the Chiefs were up 28-24 over the Patriots with 1:01 left in regulation. Facing a 3rd-and-10, it appeared they made the title-clinching play when cornerback Charvarius Ward intercepted a tipped Tom Brady pass. However, an ominous yellow cloth appeared on the field. Edge rusher Dee Ford had lined up offsides. The Chiefs would be headed to Super Bowl LIII...if only Dee Ford had not lined up offsides. pic.twitter.com/mIuuL1W2O7— NFL on CBS (@NFLonCBS) April 23, 2020 As with the Kadarius Toney penalty, this one was very much legitimate; Ford was clearly over the neutral zone with his upper body actually past the line of scrimmage. However, that did not stop Andy Reid from also criticizing the referees. “It wasn’t but by a few inches but I thought it was legitimate,” he said at the time, via ESPN. “Normally you’re warned and the coach is warned if somebody is doing that before they throw it in a game of that magnitude. But they did. He didn’t waste any time doing it. He didn’t wait until the interception to throw it. He had his hand on the flag right from the get-go.” The Patriots went on to score a touchdown on that drive, and eventually won the game on the first possession of overtime. That game ended Chiefs’ 2018 season; their 2023 campaign will continue after this latest offsides gaffe. It will continue in Foxborough, where Kansas City is set to play the Patriots on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
Source: https://www.patspulpit.com/2023/12/11/2 ... s-patriots
