‘4 inches short’:
Now-49ers defensive end Dee Ford committed a costly penalty in the Chiefs’ AFC title-game loss last year. But head coach Andy Reid deflected the criticism.
A penalty on Dee Ford might have cost the Chiefs a trip to the Super Bowl last season.
But Kansas City head coach Andy Reid on Wednesday minimized Ford’s responsibility for that painful loss.
Late in last year’s AFC title game, the Chiefs led the Patriots when Ford was flagged for lining up in the neutral zone, nullifying an interception that might have sealed a win for Kansas City. New England subsequently scored and won in overtime.
The Chiefs are in the Super Bowl a year later — and so is Ford, who was traded by Kansas City to the 49ers for a 2020 draft pick in March.
On Wednesday morning, during his media session in Miami, Reid was asked how the Chiefs responded to such an agonizing end to their season a year ago and referenced Ford in his answer.
“I mean, we came up short last year,” Reid said. “It kind of fell on Dee, but it wasn’t Dee at all. It was all of us were 4 inches short. And everybody took that responsibility to heart.
“We could’ve all done a better job. I talked to the team about it after the game when we were still whole as a team, before we went into the offseason. And so I think the guys went out and attacked the offseason.
“They had a taste of getting to the championship game and losing it, and that’s not a very good feeling. But there was something they could do about it and that was get busy, have a great offseason, a great training camp, and try to maintain your focus throughout the season. I think the guys have done that. I’m proud of them for taking that approach.”
Ford, meanwhile, has had to revisit his penalty repeatedly in the leadup to Super Bowl LIV. He recently told The Chronicle’s Scott Ostler it was “a sloppy play on my end, and an unfortunate circumstance.
“I felt terrible for some time about it, but the biggest motivation for me is the same: I want to help my team get to a championship, and unfortunately I just wasn’t able to do it there.”
This month, Kansas City defensive end Frank Clark — who was not with the Chiefs last season — described Ford’s offside penalty in that situation as “inexcusable.”
At Super Bowl opening night Monday, Ford reportedly was asked about Clark’s assessment and agreed.
“He’s right,” Ford told reporters. “It’s inexcusable. But don’t we all do it?”