KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Andy Reid had no interest Wednesday in reliving the Chiefs' controversial loss to Buffalo last weekend.
Reid curtly batted away continued questions about the 20-17 defeat, where a rare offside penalty on wide receiver Kadarius Toney negated what would have been the go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes.
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Reid took issue with the fact that officials tend to give warnings when a player lines up offside, and that flags are rarely thrown for such an infraction.
“We brought the guys in yesterday and they understand all our focus is straight ahead on the Patriots, and every day we have to practice for this game is important,” Reid said before practice. “I felt that way after the game. They know the importance of it.”
The Chiefs (8-5), who have lost four of their past six, visit New England on Sunday.
“You always got to move forward,” Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones said. “It happens so fast: You have one game, you have one day off, and then you start focusing on the next team. You don't have time to linger on a loss. It's all about moving forward.”
Earlier in the day, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce railed at critics of their struggling offense on his “New Heights” podcast with his brother and Eagles center Jason Kelce. Most of the criticism has been directed at Kansas City wide receivers, who lead the NFL in dropped passes by a wide margin, and more recently Toney, whose penalty against Buffalo proved to be so costly.
“We're not rolling like we have in the past. I know there's a lot of media pointing fingers at some of the skill players that we have,” Kelce said. “All this that I hear in the media right now about who the Chiefs are, it's only building that beast that we've been trying to create this entire year. It's only going to keep making us better and better, going through these learning experiences and going through these tough games.”
The Chiefs have had plenty of those lately.
Four of their past five games have been decided by one possession, and three have been losses, including another in Green Bay in which officials took some heat. They didn't throw a flag for a potential defensive pass interference penalty on the Packers, so rather than have a chance to tie the game late, Kansas City headed home with a 27-19 loss.
In fact, the Chiefs are off to their worst start through 13 games since Patrick Mahomes became the starting QB in 2018.
“I think once the game was over (Sunday), you kind of get to sleep, come back Monday and Tuesday, and everybody's mind was in the right spot,” Mahomes said Wednesday. “In this league, you have to get past that stuff.”
Mahomes was as angry as any point in his professional career after the penalty on Toney, and teammates nearly had to hold him back as he chased after officials for an explanation. When the game ended, and Mahomes was shaking hands with Bills star Josh Allen at midfield, he told his fellow quarterback: "Offensive offside in that moment, man — terrible.”
Mahomes said Wednesday he regretted the way he handled the end of the game.
“Definitely emotion talking when I was talking to Josh at midfield, just to lose the football game in a tough way,” he said. “He had nothing to do with it. Just show better sportsmanship. Tell him ‘great game’ and keep it moving.”
In this case, keep it moving into Sunday's trip to New England.
“All I can do is go about business like I do every week,” said Mahomes, whose team now leads the AFC West by a single game over Denver. “The division is tight. The AFC is tight. We just have to go out there and play our best football.”
NOTES: RB Isiah Pacheco (shoulder) and LT Donovan Smith (neck) remained out of practice Wednesday. LB Drue Tranquill planned to be on the field, an indication that he is close to clearing the concussion protocol. ... LB Leo Chenal and FS Mike Edwards were out with an illness.
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