The Kansas City Chiefs came within one penalty of defeating the Buffalo Bills in their first meeting last month. But the penalized player won’t be available for Sunday’s rematch in their AFC divisional playoff matchup.
The status of Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Kadarius Toney, whose penalty negated his go-ahead touchdown in Week 14, was declared out of Sunday night’s game with hip and ankle injuries.
Toney, who hasn’t played since a Week 15 win over New England, played a critical role in the Kansas City Chiefs’ 20-17 loss to Buffalo on Dec 10 at Arrowhead Stadium.
With the Chiefs down by three in the final two minutes, quarterback Patrick Mahomes was moving them down the field for at least a game-tying field.
On second-and-10 at the Bills’ 49-yard line with 1:12 left, Mahomes threw downfield to tight end Travis Kelce, who then turned and threw a perfect lateral to Toney, who raced 25 yards for a highlight-reel touchdown that put Kansas City ahead for the moment.
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But the touchdown was nullified when Toney was penalized for being offsides. Mahomes then proceeded to throw three straight incompletions to secure Buffalo’s 20-17 win.
The overturned touchdown ended up being one of the most critical plays, if not the most critical play, of the season. A victory would have placed the Chiefs (12-6) above the Bills (12-6), meaning a Chiefs-Bills playoff matchup would have taken place at Arrowhead Stadium instead of Landmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y.
Toney had an underwhelming regular season, finishing with 27 catches for 169 yards and one touchdown in 13 games. He also led all NFL receivers with 20-plus receptions with a dropped pass percentage of 13.2 percent, and as a team, the Chiefs had a league-leading 44 dropped passes.
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Kansas City Chiefs have struggled at wide receiver
Toney, who was drafted by the New York Giants in 2021 and later traded to Kansas City, has been the poster boy for the Chiefs’ struggles at the wide receiver position.
The receiving issues greatly affected their offensive production; the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs have gone from the highest-scoring team in 2022 to the 15th rated offense this season.
Fortunately for the Chiefs, they’ve gotten exceptional play lately from rookie Rashee Rice, who’s become Mahomes’ go-to target on the outside to go with his favorite option, Kelce.
In the Chiefs’ frigid 26-7 victory over Miami in the wild-card round, Rice caught eight passes for 130 yards and one touchdown. Going forward, Rice might be the most important player to the Chiefs if they hope to repeat as champions.