The Chiefs received help from the refs
On January 26, 2025, during the AFC Championship Game, Braylon Cates’ eyes widened as he watched Josh Allen run the ball on 4th-and-1 with 12 minutes left on the clock, crossing the chains for a crucial first down. But suddenly, the tension in the air was broken by the voice of the head official, Clete Blakeman, announcing, “The previous play is under review.” Confused but still confident that Allen had secured the first down, Cates waited for the call. Then, Blakeman’s voice cut through the suspense: “The initial ruling on the field is overturned.” Outraged, Cates hurled the remote at the TV. This controversial decision ultimately ended the Buffalo Bills’ season, sending the Kansas City Chiefs to their third consecutive Super Bowl appearance.
While the Kansas City Chiefs have undeniably been a dominant force in the NFL over the past decade, a lingering question remains: How much of their success is genuinely attributed to their on-field ability, and how much is due to external factors, like the referees? Many fans have voiced concerns that the Chiefs might be playing on an uneven playing field, with the referees in their favor.
In the Chiefs’ last 11 playoff games, they have never had more penalties than their opponents, leading many NFL fans to believe there is favoritism at play. A prime example occurred in this year’s divisional matchup against the Houston Texans. Texans lineman Will Anderson made contact with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes while Mahomes still had possession of the ball. According to the NFL rulebook, roughing the passer should only be called when “a pass rusher clearly should have known that the ball had already left the passer’s hand before contact was made.” Many fans argue that Mahomes still had possession when hit, yet the call favored Kansas City. Even former players like Pat McAfee and Tony Romo have pointed out that roughing the passer penalties seem to be called more frequently when Mahomes is involved. Hall of Fame receiver Terrell Owens took it a step further, saying, “I’ve never thought I would say that games were rigged. It is unreal the amount of calls that are not called against the Kansas City Chiefs that are called against everybody else… You got to factor in the refs. The refs have been a factor in pretty much a lot of their wins.” Owens’ statement echoes a growing belief among fans that officiating consistently benefits the Chiefs, raising questions about the integrity of their victories.
In addition, last year’s Super Bowl, where the Chiefs faced the San Francisco 49ers was another case of favoritism towards the Chiefs. Despite having one of the highest-penalized offensive lines in the NFL, the Chiefs were not called for any holding penalties during the game. The year before, in their matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles, a controversial holding call helped secure the Chiefs’ victory. These instances have fueled skepticism and raised questions about whether the Chiefs’ success is being influenced by officiating decisions, casting a shadow over their championship triumph.
In Super Bowl LIX, the Kansas City Chiefs faced a tough challenge, and without key calls going their way, they struggled to keep up. All season, there had been talk about the Chiefs getting favorable officiating, and when that safety net wasn’t there, their weaknesses were exposed. Against the Eagles, they couldn’t find the same rhythm and dominance that had carried them through past playoff runs. The game ended in a decisive 40-22 loss, raising the question: can the Chiefs win when they don’t get the benefit of the doubt? It was a tough night for Kansas City, proving that when the playing field is truly even, their path to victory isn’t as certain as it once seemed.
The Chiefs receive no help from the refs
As soon as the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs game was over, my phone lit up on the couch next to me. My friends start blowing up the group chat complaining about the referees favoring the Chiefs and that they’re so done with it. With all their hours of referee training, I immediately agreed with them and took to the internet to voice my opinion about how the highly trained professional referees made the wrong call.
Although my friends and lots of other NFL fans feel as if the Chiefs have an unfair advantage due to biased reffing, in actuality the Chiefs are a well-constructed team who know how to win. And are capable of winning by themselves. Their dominance has led to widespread hatred, with many discrediting their victories. When Patrick Mahomes their star quarterback is playing the Chiefs have won 109 games and only lost 23. And winners often become villains in sports especially if they’re as dominant as the Chiefs . Before the Chiefs, there were the Patriots with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick who are still despised by NFL fans for their utter dominance for 24 years. It’s the same with the Yankees in the MLB. They are disliked by many as a result of their success for decades. Being hated comes with dominance but this doesn’t mean that their dominance is not deserved. Teams don’t make it to the Super Bowl based solely on penalties. Super Bowls are a product of hard work, amazing roster construction, and players executing on the field. It’s simply a sign of jealousy to say the Chiefs are only on top because of NFL bias.
Fans often bring up specific penalties as proof of the NFL playing favorites during Chiefs games. These penalties are often brought up without context as well. A frequently brought-up call lately has been the roughing the passer call against the Texans in this year’s playoff game. Cherry-picked calls don’t tell the whole story though. The overall stats show these penalties are distributed evenly. Since 2021 the Chiefs have played in 11 playoff games and in those 11 games the Chiefs have had fewer penalties than their opponents in zero of those 11 games. And in those games, they’ve only had more penalty yards than their opponents once.
Interceptions are often brought up when discussing the supposed bailouts the Chiefs benefit from. A Bills radio host recently posted a tweet reading, “Mahomes has had 17 interceptions called back because of a penalty,” which was viewed over 2 million times. Again like most claims against the Chiefs, this statement is taken out of context and comes from a place of jealousy. The full story is that Mahomes has thrown the most passes in that time period so it makes sense that he would have some interceptions called back. Another detail left out is the penalty that called back these interceptions. Eight of the penalties were holding when Mahomes was just throwing the ball up. And one of these didn’t even result in the interception being called back and the other team still got the ball. That leaves Eight interceptions called back. Considering that Mahomes has thrown more than anyone else since he joined the league that is pretty normal numbers. The narrative that Chief’s doubters push does not include these stats though and tend to choose particular stats to back their beliefs up.
Stats can be manipulated both ways so if the doubters love stories so much why would the NFL rig the Super Bowl to put two of the most hated NFL teams against each other in their biggest money-making game? The Eagles and the Chiefs. The Chiefs have Taylor Swift the biggest popstar on Earth. Swift is brought up by skeptics as a reason the NFL would have the refs call games in the Chiefs favor. Swift is present at a majority of Chiefs games as she is dating Travis Kelce, the star tight end of the Chiefs. Swift watching these games brings the NFL a lot of attention and money. But what do the Eagles have? Their fans were voted the second most annoying fanbase according to the Action Network which surveyed 3,000 fans. Why would the NFL rig the games so the Eagles were in the Super Bowl instead of a more likable team like the Lions or Commanders?
After the Super Bowl loss the Chiefs once again had more penalties than their opponents and this time it resulted in an uneven loss. After the Eagles win there were few fans on the internet chalking up the Eagles victory to the calls being in their favor. Why is that? Maybe it’s because the Eagles haven’t been to the Super Bowl in five of the last six seasons or because their quarterback doesn’t have a .795 win percentage. Instead of taking credit away from the winning team, NFL fans are celebrating success instead of whining about it.
