Anyone who says the Kansas City Chiefs get special treatment from the officials is being so ridiculous they are not even worth justifying with a response. However, anyone who holds that opinion might have some very worthwhile ammunition to lean on after Monday Night's duel against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Things got started on Kansas City's first scoring drive of the game, as Patrick Mahomes' short touchdown pass to Travis Kelce was marred by offensive pass interference allegations. While the pick play was contentous enough to get some officials to make the call, the officials let that one go by the wayside.
The most egregious call that went in Kansas City's favor was what went down on Trevor Lawrence's interception in the fourth quarter. Lawrence, deep in his own territory, tried to fit the ball in to wide receiver Parker Washington, but he was knocked to the ground while Trent McDuffie picked the throw off.
With Joe Buck and the rules analyst in agreement that this was an egregious miss, those who attribute Kansas City's dynasty to the zebras were up in arms. It's a shame the refs didn't gift the Chiefs a few extra penalities on the Jaguars' game-winning drive. Maybe they forgot tonight.
Chiefs benefit from a few lucky referee decisions despite loss to Jaguars
Reputation calls certainly exist in the NFL every now and again, but that is a constant that every elite quarterback has benefitted from at some point in their respective careers. Some of the calls Mahomes gets, however, often appear to be very impactful in terms of how the change the final scoreline.
The Chiefs were 10-0 in games decided by seven points or less, which may have been what set those who are of the mindset that conspiracy theories are based in reality off on their wild goose chase. This year, the Chiefs are 0-3 in such games, which should tone down the ref bias folks despite some of the big plays in this one.
Much to the chagrin of Chiefs fans, one play that was called correctly was a blatant and obvious pass interference on Chamarri Conner that gave Jacksonville the ball at the one-yard line. One impossibly goofy and unpredictable Lawrence touchdown run later, and the Jaguars had enough for the upset win.
Even if the Chiefs aren't as dominant as they were in past seasons, the calls of favoritism are only going to grow louder with each narrow mistake that goes in Kansas City's favor. All Chiefs fans can do is hope this narrative doesn't get fueled by obvious mistakes like the ones in the Jacksonville game.