The meeting of two of the best quarterbacks of this generation, Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes, who have transformed this game into what may turn into the modern-day Brady-Manning, made the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills game into a spectacle for many reasons. Additionally, both teams are fighting desperately to salvage their seasons after having them both unexpectedly derailed in recent months.
In the end, though, it has become what seems like an endless argument concerning the nature of officiating and whether or not Kadarius Toney was (and should have been) called offside in the final seconds of the game. Along with almost all of the media, Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, and Josh Allen, the opposing quarterback, have all expressed their opinions on the subject.
It should come as no surprise that more people are contributing now. According to Ian Rapoport, Roger Goodell, the notorious but incredibly successful commissioner of the National Football League, had the following to say about the situation.
Roger Goodell Is Not Alarmed By The Kansas City Chiefs’ Call
Although it was obviously offside, Goodell’s remarks are not exactly setting the world on fire. The main discussion points instead to other receivers who were not called offside and whether or not the offside actually affected the play.
Roger Goodell’s decision to speak out in support of the officiating crew, however, is more telling. The inconsistent level of criticism NFL referees have been subjected to over the past few weeks could be one obvious explanation. Another relates to how crucial it is to defend the policies and structure of the league he leads by speaking out.
Additional remarks made by Goodell in response to the public discussion surrounding the penalty are reported by NBC Sports.
“Well, I find it a little ironic when you say ‘tension on officiating,’ when I think almost everybody, to my knowledge, is acknowledging the officials were absolutely correct,” Goodell said Wednesday at the NFL owners meetings in Irving, Texas. “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, obviously we would have been subject, our officials would have been subject to criticism also.”
Roger Goodell is right, and—I can’t believe I’m actually supporting him here—he raises an excellent point regarding what would have happened if the call had not been placed. Toney was offsides, and someone, or maybe a lot of people, would have complained, and the officiating crew internet circus would have exploded once more.
Therefore, it appears that referees will now likely receive criticism for any significant call, regardless of whether it is correct or incorrect, especially given that the Chiefs publicly celebrated the call.
The lesson here, I suppose, is to treat officials with respect because they have a difficult job to do and because Roger Goodell is sometimes correct.
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