Stop me if you've heard this one before: The Kansas City Chiefs are heading to the Super Bowl! Five years ago this was a new feeling for Chiefs fans but it's anything but now, as the team is headed to its fifth Super Bowl of the Patrick Mahomes/Andy Reid era and they'll be the first team ever to attempt to win three Super Bowls in a row.
With success comes envy from the other 31 fanbases and with that envy comes the whole "The refs are rigging it for the [insert successful team here]!" We saw it with the Patriots during their long dynastic run and now we're seeing it with the Chiefs. If a flag is thrown in a crucial moment and favors the Chiefs, then clearly it was only thrown to help them. None of it has anything to do with the team's actual talent and ability to win in tight games. It's all the refs, clearly (this is sarcasm, of course).
The refs continue to be the talking point in Chiefs games
In their win over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game, there were plenty of moments where fans were crying about the refs favoring the Chiefs even though the calls made perfect sense. One was in the first half when the Chiefs fumbled but then a flag was thrown on the Bills for offsides (and they were indeed offsides). Now, of course, K.C. went on to fumble a few plays later and that stood. Why didn't the refs bail them out if that was their plan all along? Makes you really think, doesn't it?
Later on, the Chiefs had a massive 26-yard gain on 3rd-and-5 that got them in a Goal-To-Go situation but people were crying foul about that too. Xavier Worthy caught the ball (an impressive catch at that) but fans were clamoring that it was either an interception or a dropped ball. It doesn't seem to matter to Bills fans that a holding call on Damar Hamlin would have wiped out the interception even if that had happened.
In the beginning of the fourth quarter, the refs "struck again". The Bills went for it on fourth down and were marked short of the first down, leading to a turnover on downs and giving the ball back to K.C. I shouldn't have to tell you how upset the haters were about this call.
I thought:
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) January 27, 2025
-Both Kincaid and Allen crossed the first-down marker on consecutive plays.
-The duality of the Worthy miracle catch (obviously disputed) and Kincaid 4th-down drop can spell “Wide Right” levels of anguish for Buffalo
Even with all of that being the case, the Bills were still very much in this game and had a chance to win it in the final minutes! Their offense decided to run two really bad plays with the game on the line and that helped the Chiefs cement their third straight AFC title. No refs' assistance was needed there.
Unfortunately, all the non-Chiefs fans are going to be talking about at the watercooler for the next few days is how Kansas City gets all the calls. We all know that's not true of course but you know what Chiefs fans? Let's just embrace this villain role and enjoy "getting all the calls" while the team is on this run.