The Kansas City Chiefs are the two-time defending Super Bowl champions and will play this Sunday for the chance to continue their quest for the NFL's first ever three-peat. They've been to four of the past five Super Bowls, winning three of them. Their quarterback is viewed as the face of the NFL and their star tight end is dating the biggest music star on the planet. They dominate headlines, commercials, and all types of media almost as much as they dominate on the field and almost everyone outside of Chiefs Kingdom is sick of it.
At the height of the New England Patriots dynasty, I am guilty of feeling the exact same way. I was tired of the Patriots winning. I was tired of hearing about how Tom Brady was the greatest of all time. I was tired of seeing Brady and Rob Gronkowski in commercials and having them talked about on every NFL program on both television and radio. I was fed up with them, but I don't think I ever let it cloud my judgement. The Patriots and Tom Brady were truly great, not because the NFL was rigged for them, they were just plain great.
Some national media members aren't handling the Chiefs' success very well.
Now to be fair, I think most people in the national sports media will give the Chiefs credit. I don't think most of them think the Chiefs are bad and are just being propped up by favorable officiating or NFL scriptwriters. There are occasional doubters like Rex Ryan in this clip from last month.
"I've seen teams like this before ... They get beat in the first round."
β NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) December 1, 2024
Rex Ryan doesn't have any faith in the Chiefs right now π― pic.twitter.com/vJMjh4GPic
That kind of take isn't really what I'm talking about with the wave of anti-Chiefs hysteria that seems to be sweeping the NFL world right now. I'm talking about people being so sick of the Chiefs that it clouds how they view the team. Here are Craig Carton and Mark Schlereth on Breakfast Ball talking about how sick of the Chiefs they are and how they want anyone else besides them to win.
.@craigcartonlive are @markschlereth are TIRED of the Chiefs dynasty.
β Breakfast Ball (@BrkfstBallOnFS1) January 17, 2025
"We're going to pick against them this week. We're going to pick against them next week." π€£ β Craig
"I've learned my lesson. I'm still rooting against them, but I'm picking them in this game." β Mark pic.twitter.com/vZfEENNnf3
Now to their credit, Carton talks about how great the Chiefs are, but he perfectly captures the Chiefs fatigue that many in the NFL are feeling. It certainly isn't keeping them from still watching the Chiefs play, but that fatigue (of flat out frustration) with the Chiefs is now clouding how people view what happens in their games. Let's take this hit on Patrick Mahomes from the Texans Will Anderson Jr.
Will Anderson Jr. was flagged for roughing the passer here π
β The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) January 18, 2025
π₯: @Rate_the_Refs pic.twitter.com/FVlAu4dnqt
Now we can debate if that type of hit should be a penalty in the NFL, but what shouldn't be up for debate is that the referees have been calling those types of hits roughing the passer for years. Are they always consistent? No, because as you see in every NFL game played on every single weekend of the season, the referees are inconsistent, but I've seen hits very similar to that one called roughing dozens of times against a wide variety of quarterbacks.
Then there is the play where Mahomes scrambled, slid late, and two Texans hit him and each other which outraged many (including Troy Aikman who deserves some share of the responsibility for the over-the-top reaction). On that play, you can make a legitimate argument that Mahomes slid late. Yes, the Texans hit each other, but they also hit Mahomes in the head with their forearms. Do I think it's borderline and could have been a no-call because of the late slide? Sure, but if K.C. did the same to an opposing quarterback I'd immediately be looking for a flag because of how things are being called in the NFL these days, as opposed to screaming at the television in outrage if there was one.
The Chiefs fatigue and frustration that Carton and Schlereth admitted to in the earlier clip is affecting how people view what happens in the game. Normal penalties that you see every week (even if they are sometimes called inconsistently) are provoking reactions like this one from Adam Schein:
The officiating in the Houston and Kansas City game was awful, game changing, season altering, and DeMeco Ryans was right. Feel terrible for Texans. Pathetic. Unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/01Rm9eRZAK
β Adam Schein (@AdamSchein) January 19, 2025
This overdramatic reaction would never have happened if the Chiefs had been called for those exact same calls in the exact same way against the Texans. There might have been a few "that was kind of a weak call" takes from some national media in the moment and then not another word would have been said about it. Instead, we get this kind of hysteria from hot-take artists like Skip Bayless.
Ballgame. CONGRATS, NFL. YOU MADE SURE MAHOMES SURVIVED. THE SWIFTIES WILL BE BACK IN FULL FORCE FOR THE AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. YOU GAVE MAHOMES THE REFEREE SUPPORT HE NEEDED.
β Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 18, 2025
If that post wasn't enough for you, here's Chris "Mad Dog" Russo on the Dan Patrick show.
"I'm Chiefs'd out Danny!!!"
β Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) January 21, 2025
-@MadDogUnleashed has enough of the #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/ZdsukC0Jqc
You can make an argument that maybe Bayless and Russo don't really believe what they're saying, that they just want the attention that comes with it. That could be true, but it fuels the fire of the fans of other teams that are out there eating those takes up. While not as overdramatic as Bayless and Russo, Pat McAfee addressed the issue on his show as well. (Language Warning)
They're calling the Chiefs CHEATERS #PMSLive https://t.co/aKbTnJJW0N pic.twitter.com/gAslXthgRo
β Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 20, 2025
McAfee doesn't actually say he agrees with the take. He sidesteps it by just saying, "This is what people are saying". It certainly is more credible than some of the other takes, but it also isn't pushing back against the narrative either. It's broadcasting the narrative (and benefiting from the views it brings) without fully endorsing it.
It also isn't just fans who are buying into the narrative the more it is put out there. The Texans players and even their head coach DeMeco Ryans pushed the same idea. Listen to what Will Anderson Jr. had to say after the game.
βWe knew it was going to be us against the refs going into this game.β - Will Anderson Jr. pic.twitter.com/1vUFr9HDkM
β James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) January 19, 2025
Thankfully some aren't letting their Chiefs fatigue affect their options, nor are they buying into the hysteria. Here's Kay Adams with a well-reasoned take.
Letβs talk about the Chiefs. pic.twitter.com/7kxmGWkswv
β Kay Adams (@heykayadams) January 21, 2025
Chris Simms also had an unbiased outlook on the topic. (Language Warning)
Chris Simms completely dismantles Chiefs Derangement Syndrome this morning: pic.twitter.com/HLaGMoDvNj
β Bryan Stewart (@BryanStewart_) January 20, 2025
Even a heated rival, former Denver Bronco Aqib Talib managed to be unbiased.
Iβm #BroncosCountry 4Life!!! BUT this Chiefs hate is getting out of hand!!! If you hit the QB in his head, itβs a flag! No matter your intentions! And please donβt say they didnβt touch his head.
β AqibTalib21 (@AqibTalib21) January 21, 2025
So not everyone is buying into the anti-Chiefs hysteria, but it is hard to ignore these days. It's become so popular that some media members may be leaning toward it for their views. Regardless of whether they believe it or not, it is getting out of hand and it's hard to respect those who can't seem to separate their emotions from reality. They'd rather rant about penalties and conspiracies than talk about the fact that we get another historic matchup between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.
Hopefully the Chiefs are just using this all as motivation that they can take out on the Buffalo Bills this Sunday. Even if they do, we should all be prepared for any penalty or missed penalty in the game to be wildly blown out of proportion and used as an excuse as to why/how the Chiefs won. The best thing that fans who are bothered by these reactions can do is not engage with the media personalities who stoop to that level. Listen to more of the Kay Adams of the world and not the Chris Russos. Your sanity will thank you for it.