The claim that referees in the NFL are on the side of the league’s best teams is not a new accusation. In fact, various teams throughout the years have been accused of getting preferential treatment from the stripes.
Lately, those claims have been applied to officials who work games involving the Kansas City Chiefs – with many on social media blasting the referees for bias and even possible collusion.
On Wednesday, days before his team takes on the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship game, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes dismissed the idea that referees are giving his team favorable calls or extra protection.
‘I don’t feel that way,’ Mahomes told reporters in a press conference. ‘I just try to play football at the end of the day. The referees are doing their best to call the game as fair and as proper as they can and all you can do is go out there and play the game you love as hard as you can and live with the results.
‘So for me, it’s to go out there, play hard, try to do whatever I can to win the football game and then live with the results based off my effort and the way that we played the game. So I think that’s what we preach here in Kansas City.’
It appears that Mahomes hasn’t changed his mind or tune from the words he said on Tuesday when asked a similar question via Kansas City radio station 96.5 The Fan.
‘I’ve kind of learned that no matter what happens during the game, that something’s going to come out about it if you win and you continue to win, so I don’t really pay attention to it,’ Mahomes said on 96.5 The Fan, per the Kansas City Star.
‘I mean, obviously I’ve been on both sides of it as far as how I felt the calls were made, but at the end of the day, man, those guys are doing their best to make the best calls and keep it to where the players are making the plays in the game. And that’s what decides the outcome.’
Attention to Mahomes’ interactions with the referees took another turn over the weekend when the Kansas City quarterback exaggerated some contact he received from Houston Texans linebacker Henry To’oTo’o.
Mahomes was running in the direction of the sideline before he slowed down in what appeared to be an attempt to draw contact from a Texans player.
To’oTo’o shoved him just as Mahomes stepped out – with the quarterback then flailing his arms in midair in an attempt to get an unnecessary roughness call.
Referees held their whistles and their flags, deciding not to hit the Texans linebacker with a penalty.
But that’s not the only controversial moment from the game that had fans screaming about the officials on social media.
To’oTo’o was at the center of another call regarding Mahomes, but this time the officials sided with Kansas City and threw a flag for unnecessary roughness.
On the play, To’oTo’o and teammate Folorunso Fatukasi both attempted to tackle Mahomes as he was running.
Mahomes slid at the last second, causing the two Texans players to hit each other – with minimal contact on the Kansas City quarterback.
Nonetheless, officials penalized the Texans for 15 yards in a move that was panned by ESPN’s Troy Aikman, who was calling the game, and the network’s rules analyst Russell Yurk.
Elsewhere in the game, Houston’s Will Anderson Jr. was flagged for a controversial roughing the passer penalty.
That play happened much earlier in the game with a referee in clear view of the action as Anderson tackled Mahomes only a moment after he released the ball, which is typically allowed in the league.
But despite not making any extra contact with Mahomes – or targeting the quarterback’s head – the Chiefs gained 15 yards on a drive where they inevitably converted a field goal kick.
It’d be wrong to say the referees were the reason Houston lost. The Texans’ ground game was snuffed out, their passing wasn’t effective, and they only found the end zone once in the team’s 23-14 defeat.
But it’s fair to say that all eyes will be on the officiating crew led by referee Clete Blakeman for Sunday’s AFC Championship game against the Buffalo Bills.
According to NFLPenalties.com, Blakeman’s crew called the most penalties per game this past season with an average of 15.8 per contest. However, the referee won’t be with his normal crew for this playoff game.
Blakeman only called one Bills game this season (a game Buffalo won) and hasn’t called a Chiefs game this year, according to ProFootballReference. The site also says the Bills have a 5-2 record in games he’s called while the Chiefs have a record of 3-4.
The last Chiefs game Blakeman called was their 2023 Christmas Day defeat at the hands of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Another notable game Blakeman called involving Kansas City was the AFC Championship game played in 2019 – which ended with a 37-31 overtime loss to the eventual Super Bowl LIII-winning New England Patriots
