Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs getting favorable officiating could blow up in NFL’s face, feels Troy Aikman
Troy Aikman calls for an NFL officiating review after costly errors favored Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
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Troy Aikman wants NFL officiating to be fixed after seemingly helping Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs (Image via Imago)
Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are gearing up for their third straight trip to the Super Bowl. However, they are mired in controversy as fans and those in the media for instance, Troy Aikman, believe they have benefitted from officiating errors.
The narrative started to form last season after some questionable calls started to impact Chiefs opponents. Then this regular season, it opened with referees missing obvious penalties on the part of the back-to-back Super Bowl champions.
Then a few more such calls and finally, their seemingly intentional mistakes in the playoffs fanned the flames of the ‘rigged’ narrative. It was very openly evident to the likes of Troy Aikman during the Divisional round game against the Houston Texans.
However, at the time, the Hall of Famer had suggested while live on air that the NFL has to address these issues in the offseason. When he was speaking on Sports Illustrated Media with Jimmy Traina podcast, he was asked about that comment.
Here you are promoting gambling. People are gambling more than they ever have before and those types of calls, there’s a lot at stake, regardless. But especially when you’re considering there’s a lot of money that’s changing hands with these calls as well, I think that we owe it to the fans that we get it right.
Troy Aikman said
The three-time Super Bowl champion understands that officials have a tough job. They have to keep their eyes and ears sharp when watching football players run at full speed. But even then, he believes the NFL has to do better. Else there will come a time when it could come back to bite the NFL where it hurts.
NFL gambling with Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs three-peat
There is no doubt the NFL will gain massive new levels of support if Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs win a history setting third straight Super Bowl. There comes a time when every sport needs to churn its fan base in order to keep growing.
The NFL does not have fans who would be in awe of the Steel Curtain days or that of the 85-86 Bears. Now the closest thing they have to superlative football is Tom Brady and his seven Super Bowls and now the Chiefs.
For the new generation of fans to have something to talk about for the next decade or two, the NFL wants the Chiefs to win. Which could be the reason why they have not tried to fix the egregious officiating that has dominated headlines over the past few seasons.
However, once that happens, as Aikman said, league has to sit down with the referee association and device a plan to fix the problem. JJ Watt‘s suggestion to fix officiating could be one of the ways they could explore.
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Joseph Varghese
(2381 Articles Published)