There is fine line between being lucky and being an opportunist. In the New England Patriots’ case, it came down to about six inches.
That’s how far Kansas City Chiefs’ Dee Ford was lined up offsides when Tom Brady’s fourth-quarter pass tipped off Rob Gronkowski and was intercepted. If the play stood, it would have effectively ended the Pats’ season and sent the Chiefs to Super Bowl LIII. Instead, the Patriots were granted another life, and they made the most of it, going on to win 37-31 in overtime at Arrowhead Stadium.
On Monday, Kansas City head coach Andy Reid admitted Ford was lined up offsides, but noted he was disappointed the refs did not warn the Chiefs before throwing the flag.
“Normally, you’re warned and the coaches are warned if somebody is doing that before they throw it in a game of that magnitude,” Reid said, via NFL Media’s James Palmer. “But they did. And he didn’t waste any time doing it. He didn’t wait until the interception to throw it. He had his hand on the flag right from the get go and he saw it from his angle and he thought it was the call.”
“We were this close (Andy Reid puts his index finger and thump close together) being offsides and if not, we’re in Atlanta.” Dee Ford was flagged on the play where Tom Brady threw an interception that would have won the game for the Chiefs.
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) January 21, 2019
Reid also voiced some frustration over the NFL’s overtime rule where if a team scores a touchdown on their opening possession of extra time, the other team does not get a chance to answer.
“First you have to be a good coin flipper, if not then you got to get a stop,” Reid said.
The Patriots will play the Los Angeles Rams on Feb. 3, while Kansas City is left to stew all offseason on just how close they came to punching their ticket to Atlanta.
