In a league where every flag counts, the Kansas City Chiefs seem to get the benefit of the doubt on very arguable calls. Whether it’s a late roughing-the-passer call or a game-winning holding call, it always seems to end up in the Chiefs’ favor.
On Jan. 26th, the Chiefs played the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship. Deep in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs trailed the Bills by one point. Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who is known for his physical ability, attempted to run the ball to pick up the first down. To Allen’s surprise, he was stopped, but gave a good effort for the first down – at least enough to make the refs measure the play on the field. Instead, the refs saw no problem on the field or on replay and turned the ball over to the Chiefs.
This controversial measurement not only gave away the Bills’ season, it also let the Chiefs quickly take over with excellent field position. They drove down the field, scoring the game-clinching points and putting Buffalo’s hopes to rest.
This is not a rare occurrence for the Chiefs. According to ESPN, from the start of the 2021 postseason through this year’s AFC title game, the Chiefs’ opponents have doubled the amount of penalties (66) to the Chiefs (36).
Although this raining success rate for the Chiefs seems great to them, their luck might be running out.
On Feb. 9, the Chiefs took on the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX. In a game where the playing field seemed pretty equal, the Chiefs were in for an unpleasant surprise.
The Eagles wasted no time in striking first, scoring their first 17 points compared to the Chiefs’ zero. It was 24-0 at halftime.
This unusual blowout had many fans up on their feet, excited that the Chiefs finally after all this time were losing in the postseason.
Super Bowl LIX finished with the Eagles winning, 40-22. Patrick Mahomes was sacked six times with zero roughing the passer calls.
At last, it finally seems like the Chiefs’ dynasty is running out. Without the unfair calls, they finally got the beating most people thought was well deserved.
This is the opinion of Isaac Spagnola, a freshman reporter for the Chief Advocate.
