Getty Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and wide receiver Kadarius Toney.
A day after the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship game, Kansas City head coach Andy Reid was asked about wide receiver Kadarius Toney‘s weekend social media tirade in which he claimed the team lied about him being injured.
“That’s not made up by any means,” Reid said of Toney being listed on the injury report leading up to the AFC championship game, Matt Derrick of Chiefs Digest posted on X on January 29.
Toney posted on Instagram Live over the weekend and said he’s not injured despite being listed on the Chiefs’ AFC championship injury report because of a hip injury and because of the birth of his daughter on Saturday night.
“I’m not hurt”
Kadarius Toney said the Chiefs are lying about his injuries
The 25-year-old has not played in a game since suffering the hip injury in Week 15 vs. the New England Patriots. According to NFL Media’s James Palmer, that hip injury was the reason Toney didn’t play in the AFC championship game, not the birth of his daughter.
If Toney was being truthful and the Chiefs were lying about his injury status, the NFL could punish the team.
If Toney isn’t being truthful, then it appears he’s continuing to sour his relationship with a team that is Super Bowl bound as he watches from the sideline.
In 13 games played during the regular season, Toney caught 27 of 38 targets for 169 yards and 1 touchdown, and he had 11 rushing attempts for 31 yards.
Chiefs Beat Ravens 17-10
Against a Ravens offense that was fourth in the NFL in points per game (28.4) during the regular season, the Chiefs’ defense gave up just 10 points in the AFC championship game. The unit sacked MVP front-runner Lamar Jackson 4 times, forced 3 total turnovers (2 fumbles, 1 interception), and held the NFL’s No. 1 rushing attack to just 81 yards on the ground.
As for the Chiefs’ offense, they scored a majority of their points came early in the game. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes completed 14 of 15 pass attempts on the team’s first two offensive drives combined. The result of each drive was a touchdown, the first one going to tight end Travis Kelce in the air and the next being an Isiah Pacheco rushing touchdown.
Mahomes overall completed 76% of his passes against the Ravens and threw for 241 yards, 1 touchdown, and committed 0 turnovers.
Kansas City’s leading receiver was Kelce, who caught all 11 of his targets for 116 yards. Pacheco led the team in rushing yards with 68 yards on 24 carries.
The Chiefs advance with the win over Baltimore and will face the San Francisco 49ers in the 2024 Super Bowl, which will take place on February 11 in Las Vegas.
Big Red Talks Beating Ravens
Speaking to the media after the game, Reid expressed his thoughts on the low-scoring outing.
“My hat goes off to the Ravens and the city of Baltimore. You’ve got a great football team. We appreciated your hospitality. It’s a great environment to play in,” Reid said during his press conference. “Then how about the Chiefs? I mean, what a great deal that was. I thought our guys played hard, aggressive football. It always starts with the offensive and defensive line. They came out with a purpose here and played their hearts out. Pat Mahomes did a great job again, as he normally does. But starting the game off with 11 completions, that’s something special, then to manage the game. Kind of thrown by the side is him taking a sack there at the end as opposed to trying to fit the ball in. He took the sack, kept the clock running. Good things happened there at that particular time.
“Then, our defense was outstanding. We were able to get a lead, and we were able to maintain that lead and did it with great personality there, as they’ve done throughout the season,” Reid continued. “My hat goes out to [Steve Spagnuolo], to [Matt Nagy], and to [Dave] Toub for the jobs that they’ve done as coordinators putting things together. Most of all keeping the hope up when things weren’t going as well. [Marques Valdez-Scantling] is a picture of that. People coming down on him everywhere, he keeps it right there and does a great job with it. Just phenomenal. That kid, he’s taken a beating here, and he was able to just hang in there and battle.”