With the conclusion of college football, all eyes turn to the NFL Super Bowl LIX, where the Philadelphia Eagles will play the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans. The Chiefs are looking to get their third Super Bowl win in a row, but many NFL fans feel that the reffing has been incredibly biased towards the Chiefs. This poses the question, do the Chiefs really deserve to be in the Super Bowl? Or did they not even deserve to be in the playoffs?
The alleged bias towards the Chiefs came to a head at the AFC championship game against the Bills, which happened last Sunday. There were many calls that prompted fans to question the legitimacy of the refs, especially since the game ended in a close Chiefs win, 32-29. However, the supposed favoritism of the Chiefs has existed much longer than the AFC championship. In fact, it’s lasted pretty much the whole season. The complaints started Week 2, with the Chiefs playing the Bengals. The game was close the whole time, but with 48 seconds left, the Chiefs got yardage from a controversial pass interference call, and kicked a field goal to the game by 1 point. Some say it was a legitimate call, but others argue that the refs were calling in favor of Kansas City.
Of the Bengals defensive pass interference call, junior John Pawley says “It wasn’t the right call, it only happens to the Chiefs. Any other team, that wouldn’t have been a call”.
Another controversial call was the divisional round of the playoffs, where the Chiefs played the Texans. There were 2 “roughing the passer” calls against Houston, and many argue that the hits against Patrick Mahomes were much too soft to warrant a penalty. The Chiefs gained 15 yards for each roughing the passer call, giving them a huge advantage. The hits were replayed, and even the announcers agreed that neither one should’ve been a penalty.
The most recent controversial calls were against the Bills in the AFC championship game. This game was critical, determining which team moves on to the Super Bowl, and so the refs faced even more backlash for their calls than usual. A late second-half catch by the Chiefs’ Xavier Worthy was ruled a catch, even though the replay appeared to show that the ball touched the ground. Another disputed call was in the fourth quarter, when Josh Allen rushed for a fourth down. Even though the ball seemed to cross the line, the refs ruled that it didn’t, and the Chiefs scored on the next possession. If these alleged missed calls had been acknowledged by the refs, the game could have turned out very differently, perhaps resulting in a Bills-Eagles Super Bowl.
About some of the calls during Bills game, sophomore Edison Hill says, “Josh Allen should’ve gotten the first-down conversion, and the throw by Patrick Mahomes should have been ruled an incomplete or an interception.”
Some people, though, feel like the Chiefs are undeserving of the hate. Many focus on the calls against the Chiefs, but the Chiefs get called for fouls too. In fact, the Chiefs are the sixth most penalized team in the NFL, showing that they definitely still get penalties called against them. People also argue that the Chiefs are just receiving hate because they’ve been a successful team for multiple seasons, and some say that the same thing happened with Tom Brady and the Patriots when they went on a dominant streak.
Whether the refs unfairly favor the Chiefs or not continues to be debated, but it’s been a huge topic in the world of football for the entire season. With Super Bowl LIX being held February 9, everyone will be watching Kansas City and Philadelphia, but also the refs and their calls.
