Andy Reid ripped the officials of the Chiefs vs. Bills game in his postgame news conference Sunday after they called a crucial offside penalty of Kadarius Toney that wiped out a go-ahead touchdown for Kansas City.
The veteran coach seemed to have cooled off by his Monday media availability.
Reid spoke to reporters via Zoom on Monday and acknowledged that he wasn't trying to use Toney's penalty as an excuse for Kansas City's 20-17 loss.
"We got to clean up some penalties and some drops," Reid said. "With that, I know what I said about the officials. Listen, there are no excuses on this thing."
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So, what were Reid's postgame comments about then? He explained that his greater point in calling out the officials was all about communication.
I've been doing this a long time. This isn't an excuse. It's a working relationship. That part is so important in this thing. You see it on both sides. You give the head coach a heads up. That's what I was really trying to get across.
In fairness to Reid, officials do sometimes give a warning to a coach that a player is close to being offside. They are not, however, required to do that.
And as referee Carl Cheffers explained in a postgame pool report, the officials reserve the right to call the offensive offside without warning if it is "egregious". The officials of Sunday's game believed that Toney's infraction fit that description.
MORE: How Kadarius Toney ruined Travis Kelce's 'legendary' lateral TD pass vs. Bills
It's also worth noting that players are allowed to check with officials to see if they are lined up offside on any given play. This usually involves some sort of head nod, wave or other motion toward the side judge.
Toney made no effort to do that, as can be seen in the video below.
All 22 angle of the Kelce lateral/Toney offside play. Doesn't appear Toney once checks with the sideline judge on his side from this.
— Shaun Newkirk (@Shauncore) December 11, 2023
Also amazing job still from Kelce finding him in space. pic.twitter.com/UyiVABuBSp
Reid was conscious of this. So, despite being irked by the call, he admitted that, after reviewing the play, the responsibility for the mistake lies with the Chiefs.
"Do we need to line up right? Yeah. We can't put it in the officials' hands," he said.
MORE: Mad Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid blast officials for ending of Chiefs' loss to Bills
Those gaffes have been critical in the Chiefs' recent cold streak, during which they have lost back-to-back games and four of their last six.
Does that have Reid worried about the team's future? The long-time coach recognized those concerns but seemed to indicate that he believes the team is close to putting it all together again.
"We've got to do better, just all the way around," he said. "At the same time, we're getting better. It's so close it's crazy."
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