After an apparent dramatic touchdown — which included a mid-play lateral from Travis Kelce to Kadarius Toney — was taken off the board when officials judged Toney offsides near the end of last week’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills, both head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes aired their frustrations.
Now the duo has been fined by the league for their criticism of the officials, and the fines are pretty steep. As reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Reid has been fined $100,000 for “violating long-standing league rules prohibiting public criticism of game officials.”
Mahomes was fined $50,000 for “unsportsmanlike conduct” during his sideline tirade, as well as his post-game comments, which fell under the same “public criticism” category as Reid’s comments.
In his post-game press conference, Reid referred to the incident as “embarrassing,” and outlined that players typically get a warning when they are aligned offsides. As for Mahomes, not only did he blast the call in its immediate aftermath, but that continued during his post-game handshake with Josh Allen, and later in his comments to the media.
Both Reid and Mahomes walked back their criticism throughout the week, but apparently, that was not enough for the league.
