“Absolutely the right call!” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stands by penalty call during the Bills-Chiefs game that drew Patrick Mahomes’ ire

Roger Goodell said NFL officials should not be criticized when they made the right call on Sunday.

“Absolutely the right call!” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stands by penalty call during the Bills-Chiefs game that drew Patrick Mahomes’ ire

Patrick Mahomes and Roger Goodell (Via Marca/The japan Times)

Last Sunday Night Football game seemed like a tragedy for the Kansas City Chiefs. Not only did they lose the game after a game-winning touchdown was ruled out, but their star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, has gone under NFL investigation.

With the final two minutes remaining in the game, Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce made a surprising twist and threw a perfect sideway pitch directed to wide receiver Kadarius Toney, who led to a 49-yard run into the end zone. 

It could have been the winning moment for the Chiefs; however, the touchdown was nullified due to a pre-snap penalty, resulting in the Buffalo Bills’ victory by 20-17.

Frustrated by the call made by the referee, who penalized Toney for a flag with no prior warning, quarterback Mahomes lost his temper and vented to the NFL official. This meltdown by him took him under NFL investigation and also received a lot of criticism.

The NFL MVP contender has apologized for his outburst; however, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell isn’t quite satisfied. Hours after the apology, he addressed the matter by giving his full support to the officials in the Sunday game, who made “absolutely the right call,” during his news conference at the league’s winter meetings held on Wednesday.

I think almost everybody, [to] my knowledge, is acknowledging the officials were absolutely correct. That's their job: to call when there's a foul. There was no question about that foul. It was absolutely the right call. If you don't call that, [then] our officials would have been subject to criticism also.
Goodell said on Toney’s offside penalty

Goodell further appreciated the NFL officials and was “incredibly proud” of their work. Though they make mistakes, that’s normal, in his opinion, as “they are not perfect. No human being is. But the reality is they do an extraordinary job,” and they should not be criticized when they made the right call on Sunday 

Why no warning was given for a pre-snap violation in Sunday’s game?

It’s not mandatory for the officials to warn the players before the pre-snap violation, as it’s nowhere stated in the NFL policies. However, some referees prefer to bid by that, as they go by the ideology of preventive officiating, where they let the players know.

Kadarius Toney's offside penalty
Kadarius Toney’s offside penalty (Via WHEC)

On Sunday’s game, the officials did not give the warning as it wasn’t required. During the postgame pool report from Kansas City, referee Carl Cheffers talked about the foul made by receiver Toney, whose “alignment was over the ball,” and that calls for a penalty. He argued that it’s the job of the players to be careful with where they line up. 

Cheffers emphasized that even if they wanted to give any kind of warning, it wasn’t possible at that moment, as it was beyond a warning.

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