Colby Brooke
The issue of the Kansas City Chiefs’ games being rigged is nothing new. For the past two NFL seasons, the Chiefs have been getting away with horrible calls, blatant flops and obvious embellishment acts. Especially on the part of quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
To call these penalties horrible is a shining understatement. The controversy started to kick into high gear when the Chiefs took on the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 57.
From the beginning of the game both the Chiefs and the Eagles went back and forth scoring touchdown after touchdown. That was all well and good but in the dying minutes of the fourth quarter the Chiefs got a massive break.
Tied at 35 a piece the Chiefs in critical third & eight position, had the ball on the Eagles 15-yard line. As Mahomes snapped the ball and threw it, it soared high over the head of wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster which would have resulted in fourth & eight and the Chiefs would be looking at a field goal attempt.
But before the ball was thrown the official threw a flag on Eagles’ Cornerback James Bradberry IV for holding. This was completely false there was evidence of hand fighting between the receiver and cornerback which is legal but there was simply no holding call.
In a critical Third down situation the officials handed Mahomes and the Chiefs a Super Bowl winning opportunity. Which they did not waste whatsoever. They went on to drain the clock to just 11 seconds and kicked a go-ahead field goal.
On the Eagles’ final drive quarterback Jalen Hurts threw “Hail Mary” which was quite short and they subsequently lost the game.
The Chiefs have been called “cheaters” and “floppers” more recently due to this year’s divisional round game against the Houston Texans which was billed as a can’t miss game. But in reality this game was the complete opposite.
To set the stage, it's third & eight and the Kansas City Chiefs are on their thirty-yard line when Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. hit Mahomes on what looked like a clean tackle.
Anderson Jr.’s arms were up in the shoulder pad area of Patrick Mahomes not the head. His hands do not go near Mahomes’ head at all and the refs call a “roughing the passer” penalty.
After the game, Anderson Jr. complained about the refs’ horrible officiating and received a 25K dollar fine for these comments according to the NFL. One other moment in this divisional round game that was immediately shrouded in controversy takes place in the final twelve minutes of the fourth quarter.
It's second & goal on the Texans’ 13-yard line from the left hash, Mahomes surveys can’t find any receiver open for a pass. So, he decides to run the ball like he normally does in these “gotta have it situations.”
So Mahomes takes off to the left and slows down and looks as though he’s just going to take the little bit of yardage gained but nope. He is always trying to draw a penalty. Texans’ Linebacker Henry To’oTo’o gives Mahomes’ a slight bump and then Mahomes makes it seem like he was hit at full speed.
The issue of whether or not they are cheaters is quite difficult to say they get away with quite a bit and the refs seem to give them the benefit of the doubt most times. But I believe that they know every single rule and how to exploit those rules for their benefit.
So are the cheaters? Most likely… no. But their reign of terror in the league has just begun. Soon we might see them become the first team in NFL history to three-peat. Which would put them in the conversation with Tom Brady’s Patriots, Terry Bradshaw’s Steelers, Troy Aikman’s Cowboys and Joe Montana’s 49ers.
Who knows they might just be the smartest team in NFL history with their keen knowledge of rules and how to use them.
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