Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes given big fines for criticizing notorious offsides call
Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes were critical of an instantly infamous offsides penalty on Kadarius Toney that wiped away a spectacular touchdown that would’ve give the Kansas City Chiefs a late lead on the Buffalo Bills. Then the bills came due, as expected.
The fines were for different violations, but both came back to public displays of blasting officials over the Toney call. Reid was fined $100,000 for criticizing the officials to the media after the game, and Mahomes was fined $50,000 for “abusive, threatening or insulting language to officials” and public criticism of officials, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media.
Mahomes was yelling at the officials while coming off the field after a turnover on downs late in the game, and he continued his tirade from the sideline. He also complained about the call after the game, even when he met Bills quarterback Josh Allen at midfield. He continued to question the call in his postgame media conference. Mahomes later apologized, particularly for how he handled the situation with Allen.
Reid said the officials should’ve given the Chiefs a warning before flagging Toney and said the officiating situation was “a bit embarrassing” for the league. All of it seemed a little funny when replays showed that Toney was clearly offsides, and Reid admitted Monday that Toney never checked with the official to see if he was lined up right.
Both Reid and Mahomes had to know they would be fined. The NFL certainly wasn’t going to let either of them get away with blasting the officials, especially after they made the right call.
NFL fines Andy Reid $100K, Patrick Mahomes $50K for criticizing officials
We learned on Saturday Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes were both fined for critical comments about the officiating in last Sunday’s loss to the Bills and we learned the size of those fines later in the day.
The NFL said that Reid has been fined $100,000 and Mahomes has been fined $50,000 for taking issue with the flag thrown on wide receiver Kadarius Toney for being offside on a play that ended with a touchdown after Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce caught a pass and lateraled the ball to Toney to run into the end zone.
The league noted that both players were fined for violating long-standing league rules prohibiting public criticism of game officials.
Mahomes’ fine was also for unsportsmanlike conduct, specifically the rule prohibiting the use of abusive, threatening or insulting language toward officials.