Travis Kelce's response to Kadarius Toney criticism embodies what's wrong with Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs took center stage in the NFL after their loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 14. The Chiefs seemingly had a game-winning touchdown scored on a lateral pass from tight end Travis Kelce to wide receiver Kadarius Toney. But the play was negated due to part to Toney being blatantly offsides, causing the flag to be thrown after the football was hiked.

With that, there were a lot of complaints on the Chiefs about the officiating not giving Toney and the Chiefs a warning and about referees getting involved late in games. Talk of this came from pretty prominent members of the Chiefs, including head coach Patrick Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid. At the time after the game, it felt as if there was zero accountability from the Chiefs over the loss and the fact that Toney was lined up offside. Speaking of Toney, it does come up as another case of the 2021 first-round pick's inconsistency early on in his career.

Kelce spoke about the situation during the latest episode of the 'New Heights' podcast and called out those in the media who are critical of not just Toney but the skill players on the Chiefs who have received flak after the team's loss in Week 14. Specifically, Kelce said, "F*** that."

Travis Kelce calls out critics, media for criticizing Kadarius Toney over crucial offsides penalty

"I felt like you guys need to feel that, whoever's talking s*** on the skill players in our offense right now," said Kelce. "It's a group effort, and when you turn the film on, what's real is we got guys that can play this game, and we got guys that we can have success with and win with and win championships with. I know it. I've been on championship-caliber teams.

"When you watch the film, penalties in critical moments, turnovers in critical moments, and it's everybody. It's not one guy, it's everybody gets a piece of the pie. Yeah, it's frustrating, but at the same time, we know a lot of it is self-inflicted. And we know moving forward it can be fixed. We have the guys to be able to get it fixed. "

Kelce brought up that even with errors like Toney's, the team is still 8-5 on the year and among the top of the AFC standings. The tight end went on to say that those in the media who are criticizing the team are only motivating them.

"All of this 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," said Kelce. "And it's only going to keep making us better and better going through these learning experiences and going through these tough games."

Has Kansas City gone full "Michigan vs. Everybody" like the Wolverines football team has done this year? Or like the New England Patriots i the 2018 season where they claimed to have called themselves "underdogs" in Super Bowl 53?

Kelce is obviously going to defend his teammates, and it's not shocking that they will use the negative attention on them after their Week 14 loss. The tight end also came to the defense of Toney, who has been the subject of criticism throughout his career with the Chiefs and New York Giants. Whether it was the inability to stay on field due to injuries, having critical drops in Week 1 this year against the Detroit Lions, or lining up offsides vs. the Bills.

"I love KT. If I get the opportunity again I’m going to throw that s–t right to his chest,” Kelce said, h/t the New York Post. “I got all the faith in the world… He’s one of the best players we got with the ball in his hands...Everybody hating on KT right now, I’m not trying to hear that. You can f***ing miss me with it. I’m trusting in 1-9 every time he’s out there on the field.”

For the most part, the Chiefs have walked back their comments about the loss. Reid admitted that Toney was lined up offside and that he didn't check with the sideline official to see if he was committing a penalty. As for Mahomes, he expressed regret over his behavior after the game, particularly how he behaved during his postgame handshake with Bills quarterback Josh Allen.

Kelce and the Chiefs have heard the criticism, and the tight end is coming to the defense of his teammates and saying they will use this as fuel.