Chiefs' offensive offside penalty in Week 14 is one of NFL's most infrequent
It's hard to deny the acts of the Kansas City Chiefs' Week 14 loss to the Buffalo Bills. If you're living under a rock, the Chiefs had a 49-yard touchdown that included a pitch from Travis Kelce to Kadarius Toney had called back. The play was flagged because Toney was blatantly offside. Andy Reid confirmed that Toney did not […]
It's hard to deny the acts of the Kansas City Chiefs' Week 14 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
If you're living under a rock, the Chiefs had a 49-yard touchdown that included a pitch from Travis Kelce to Kadarius Toney had called back. The play was flagged because Toney was blatantly offside. Andy Reid confirmed that Toney did not check with the side judge to ensure he was properly aligned ahead of the snap.
Another thing we do know is just how rare offensive offside penalties are in the NFL. It speaks to Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes' frustration with the matter.
But exactly how rare is the offensive offside penalty in the NFL?
How many times has this penalty been called recently?
NBC Sports' Peter King took us back two years in his "Football Morning in America" column. He underscores the fact that the NFL has emphasized offensive offside penalties this past year, with nine more calls in 2023 than in the past two years combined.
"An odd call—flagged once in 2021, twice in 2022, and 12 times this year, increasing because of the many times offensive linemen try to get an edge on the Tush Push maul of a quarterback sneak."
It's now up to ten more calls if you include the Chiefs' penalty on Sunday.
From 2016 through 2019, the NFL didn't call a single offensive offside penalty. In 2020, NFL officials had a big uptick, with six penalties to make up for the fact they hadn't called any in four years.
Going back to this year, four receivers, including Toney, have been called for offensive offside this season, with the rest of the penalties called against offensive linemen. Interestingly, a former Chiefs receiver is also on the list, Panthers' Ihmir Smith-Marsette.
When was the last time the Chiefs were flagged?
The NFL Network crew woke the Chiefs Kingdom up with this factoid — it has been nearly 30 years since the team was last flagged for an offensive offside penalty. Former Chiefs OL Jeff Criswell was flagged for the penalty in a Week 7 tilt with the New England Patriots.
If you think that's wild, wait what we've got next.
When was the last time an Andy Reid team was flagged?
ESPN's "Sportscenter" had perhaps the craziest stat from this whole ordeal. Andy Reid has been a head coach in the NFL since 1999. During that span, his offenses have run over 25,000 plays. Sunday marked the first time in his NFL head-coaching career that his offense was ever called for an offensive offside penalty.
If that doesn't emphasize just how rare these calls are, I'm not sure anything will.
Ok, so what's the point?
The point is that Andy Reid might have a point on the league's failure to issue a warning. If you're unaware, Reid blasted the officials after the game, saying that coaches typically are warned when a player is aligned in the neutral zone.
Here's what Carl Cheffers told the pool reporter after the game:
"Certainly, no warning is required, especially if they’re lined up so far offside where they’re actually blocking our view of the ball. We would give them some sort of warning if it was anywhere close, but this particular one is beyond a warning."
Warnings might not be required per the NFL rulebook, but if they've truly become the standard for over two decades, maybe you need to stick with it in the most crucial moments of games. There's a reason these penalties haven't been called frequently throughout the entire history of the NFL.
The Chiefs need to do what has been obvious for weeks now
Everyone knows that the Kansas City Chiefs need serious changes in the wide receiver room and stat.
