Hot takes about whether NFL refs favor quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are everywhere. But the media argument that’s starting to annoy me the most is the “we’re so lucky to bear witness to Chiefs greatness” narrative.
After covering the 32–29 Chiefs victory over the Bills in the AFC title game, CBS Sports sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson took to X/Twitter to chide the team’s haters. “I feel for Josh Allen and the Bills but also don’t enjoy hearing all the hate on the Chiefs,” she tweeted. “I witnessed Brady and the Pats dominance first hand and what KC is doing feels just like that. Let’s take a moment and appreciate what Mahomes and the Chiefs have accomplished.”
Nate Burleson of CBS’s The NFL Today went further. “If you’re not a Chiefs fan, that’s O.K. But resist the urge to fall for the narrative that we’re tired of seeing them win, that we might be fatigued of watching K.C. go to the Super Bowl over and over again,” Burleson said. “You are witnessing greatness. And just be happy that you are alive to be there to see it.”
We know the Chiefs, Mahomes, and coach Andy Reid are historically great. Reid’s Chiefs are gunning for an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl win. Mahomes is leading Kansas City to its fifth Super Bowl appearance in the past six seasons. As I’ve written before, the 29-year-old QB is my favorite player to watch in the NFL.
But we should be happy to be “alive” to watch the Chiefs? Isn’t that a bit much? Besides, don’t tell me what I should think. You can have your opinion. I can have mine. But you can’t have both.
It’s not personal; I respect Wolfson and Burleson. They’re great at their jobs. But I disagree with them telling fans how to root. If fans choose to love the Chiefs, and cheer for them during Super Bowl LIX, that’s great. If they choose to hate the Chiefs, and cheer for the Eagles, that’s O.K., too. You can bet plenty of Chiefs fans hated Tom Brady when he beat their team in the 2019 AFC championship game with the Patriots, then again in the 2021 Super Bowl with the Buccaneers. To his credit, Mahomes realizes that dynasties are naturally praised, envied, and feared at the same time.
“If you win a lot and that causes you to be a villain, then I’m O.K. with it,” Mahomes told the media. “I’m going to enjoy playing the game and try to win as much as possible.”
Whether the Chiefs are hated or beloved, they draw attention. They’ve been the NFL’s most-watched TV team over the last two seasons, dethroning the Cowboys. It’s hard to argue people aren’t paying attention.
My sense is Chiefs defenders would rather draw the focus away from the furious debate about whether refs are rigging calls in favor of K.C. Take Sunday’s dramatic Chiefs-Bills rematch, which averaged a monster 57.7 million viewers.
The eagerly anticipated game came only one week after ESPN’s Troy Aikman publicly questioned Mahomes flopping for flags against the Texans. Both Aikman and Fox’s Tom Brady called for the league to crack down in the offseason. On Sunday, the zebras again made several controversial calls that seemed to favor the Chiefs.
With the Bills leading 22–21 in the fourth quarter, Buffalo was at midfield driving for another score. On third-and-3, QB Josh Allen looked like he converted the first down via a swing pass to Dalton Kincaid. But a ref marked Kincaid inches short of the sticks. That brought up fourth-and-short, a play that will be replayed a million times during Super Bowl week and beyond.
Allen and the Bills attempted their version of the tush push. “I think he got it,” said CBS’s Jim Nantz. But after a review, the refs ruled Allen short. Both Gene Steratore and Nantz questioned their decision. “I felt like he gained it by about a third of the football,” Steratore said. Nantz agreed. The Chiefs took over on downs, then scored to regain the lead.
The CBS announcing crew wasn’t alone in believing the Bills got the short end of the officiating stick. Fox rules analyst Dean Blandino, the NFL’s former VP of officiating, thought Allen converted on fourth down. Ditto for ESPN’s Pat McAfee. Hell, I thought the Bills converted on both third down and fourth down. The controversial sequence generated a rant from Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports, who lost his $1 million bet that the Bills would win the Super Bowl.
“This is the most disgusting thing,” Portnoy declared. “I’m not watching football ever again. I quit football. I quit.”
No, I don’t believe the NFL is rigged. (Neither does Blandino.) But as ProFootballTalk notes, perception can become reality. Whether the NFL likes it or not, there’s a “perception” among some viewers that the Chiefs won two playoff games due, in part, to questionable calls. If another controversial call goes Kansas City’s way in New Orleans, what are we supposed to do as TV viewers? Believe our lying eyes? Or shut up and listen to experts?
We all know Mahomes is the NFL’s biggest star—and that Travis Kelce’s romance with Taylor Swift has attracted millions of Swifties to the league’s fan base. But conspiracy theories about refs rigging games for the Chiefs are a bad look for the NFL. If you have an opinion on the Chiefs, I respect it. So long as you respect mine.
As Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post noted: “Hard to fully appreciate Chiefs greatness when every questionable call goes their way.”
