Chiefs' Andy Reid on Kadarius Toney Penalty vs. Bills: Refs Usually Warn Me First

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid wasn't pleased that the refs didn't warn him about the penalty that negated Kadarius Toney's go-ahead touchdown late in the Chiefs' 20-17 Sunday loss to the Buffalo Bills.

"Usually I get a warning before something like that happens in a big game," Reid said after the game, per KCTV5 News' Jared Koller. "A bit embarrassing in the National Football League for that to take place."

"I didn't have a protractor out there, but a bit embarrassing."

Referee Carl Cheffers said in a pool report, via ESPN's Adam Teicher, that "no warning is required":

"Ultimately, they are responsible for wherever they line up,. 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.''"

The potential game-winning play came when tight end Travis Kelce caught a pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tossed it to Toney, who completed the 49-yard touchdown with fewer than two minutes left in the game.

But officials ruled Toney had lined up offsides, forcing the 8-5 Chiefs to concede their fourth loss in six games.

"Normally, if it's even close, you get a warning. The head coach gets a warning," Reid said.

This is not the first time Reid has clashed with officials over calling offsides before giving him a heads up.

After a hand planted over the line of scrimmage by Chiefs linebacker Dee Ford cost Kansas City a game-changing fourth-quarter interception in the team's 2019 AFC Championship Game loss to the New England Patriots, Reid similarly complained he had not been warned by officials about Ford's positioning.

"It wasn't but by a few inches but I thought it was legitimate,'' Reid said in January 2019, per ESPN's Adam Teicher. "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."

Unlike the Ford penalty, however, this flag was thrown while the Chiefs were on offense.

"I've been in the league a long time, and I haven't had one like that, at least for that kind of a position there, that it's not given a heads up to," Reid said.

Mahomes similarly expressed surprise with the penalty.

"I've never had offensive offsides called," Mahomes said after the game, per ESPN's Jeff Darlington. "If it does, they warn you. There wasn't a warning the entire game. And then you make a call like that in the final minute?"

CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore said that the reason the offensive offsides penalty is rare is not because the Chiefs play wasn't a foul, but because "a receiver rarely lines up offsides."

Whatever the cause, the loss leaves the Chiefs at risk of losing their spot atop the AFC West as the 7-6 Denver Broncos close in on Kansas City's lead.