NFL Ref Carl Cheffers Explains Kadarius Toney Call: WR’s Offsides ‘Beyond a Warning’

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

The Kansas City Chiefs may have been livid about Kadarius Toney being called for lining offsides late in Sunday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills, but the officials in charge of the game believe they made the right call.

“Ultimately, they are responsible for wherever they line up,” referee Carl Cheffers told reporters after the game. “No warning is required, especially if they are lined up so far offsides where they’re actually blocking our view of the ball. We would give them a warning if it was anywhere close, but this particular one is beyond a warning.”

Replay showed Toney clearly lined up offsides at the snap of what would have been a 49-yard touchdown to put the Chiefs ahead late in the fourth quarter. Making matters all the more deflating for the Chiefs was the fact Travis Kelce lateraled the ball to Toney for the touchdown on the play in what would have been one of the finest moments of his career.

The Chiefs would turn the ball over on downs three plays later to hand the Bills a 20-17 victory. Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes was incensed with the call, telling Bills quarterback Josh Allen that it was “f–king terrible” when the two met on the field after the game.

“I’ve played seven years [and] never had offensive offside called,” Mahomes said at his postgame press conference. “That’s elementary school [stuff] we’re talking about. 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. Lost for words. It’s tough. Regardless if we win or lose, just the end of another game and we’re talking about the refs. It’s just not what we want for the NFL and for football.

“What you want as a competitor is you practice all week to go out there and try to win, and you want it to be about your team and that team and see what happens. You don’t want to be talking about this stuff after the game. I’m not worried about if there was a flag on the next player or whatever, not a flag. I want to go out there and play and then see what happens at the end, see what the score is, and then I can live with the results.”

While Mahomes may not like the call, referees are not required to hand out warnings for obvious penalties. Toney was offsides. There is no argument to be made otherwise. It was a clear infraction, and it’s ultimately Toney’s responsibility to ensure he’s lined up where he’s supposed to be.

Being frustrated at a close loss is understandable, but the Chiefs’ complaints sound more like sour grapes than anything.