4 Chiefs players who deserve plenty of blame (instead of the refs)

Kadarius Toney

You all knew this was coming. Toney's mistake negated one of the best football plays this season and one that would have the Chiefs at 9-4 rather than 8-5. What a difference a half a foot makes.

Andy Reid and Mahomes can redirect the blame all they want. This is yet another mental error by Toney, dragging his role and outlook in Kansas City down even further. It is hard to believe that Toney's 41 yards from scrimmage against Buffalo were a season-high for him.

Those are hardly WR1 numbers, but what do I know? I'm not an expert.

Toney, among other Chiefs receivers, has been the problem all year long. Whether it be confusion at the line of scrimmage, pood deep-bal adjustments, or outright drops, this corps is not getting it done. A wasted year of Mahomes' prime is not due to the defense, the culprit in previous seasons. It is a group of underwhelming receivers shooting themselves and their team in the foot. Toney's penalty is just the latest and most egregious example of that.

“Ultimately, they are responsible for wherever they line up,” referee Carl Cheffers said. “Certainly, no warning is required, especially if they are lined up so far offsides where they’re actually blocking our view of the ball. So, we would give them some sort of warning if it was anywhere close, but this particular one is beyond a warning.”

Everyone outside of the Chiefs fanbase knows this loss is not on the referees. This is on Toney, the same player general manager Brett Veach said was "extremely smart" and had unlimited potential ahead of this season. Now, he has CBS broadcaster Tony Romo sighing with disappointment at the game's end.

“These receivers can’t get out of the way of hurting this team,” Romo said following Toney's error. “Too many times at the end of the game.”

Truer words about the 2023 Chiefs receivers have never been said.