Why Patrick Mahomes’ legacy will be stained by refereeing help in the 2024 NFL season
As Patrick Mahomes gears up to play in his 3rd straight Super Bowl, the team's season has been riddled with questionable calls.
Follow Us
Patrick Mahomes's third straight Super Bowl appearance comes with an asterisk next to it (Image via IMAGO)
The Kansas City Chiefs are headed to the Super Bowl for the third straight year. The team established its dominance after a 32-29 win over their rivals, the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship game on Sunday. Since the start of this season, Kansas City has been unhinged.
They don’t dominate their opponents on a weekly basis but Patrick Mahomes and his team have found a way to win games. Oftentimes, the team has won not solely due to their performance but because fate has favored them too. In this instance, fate is synonymous with the NFL’s refereeing.
Not to accuse the NFL’s officiating crew upfront but when a team continues to get calls favoring them on multiple occasions, it cannot be deemed as mere coincidence. Social media is having a field day with the memes suggesting Mahomes and the Chiefs are resorting to Black Magic this season to achieve immense success. However, they are infuriated over the fact that the quarterback continues to be the golden child of the referees in the NFL.
The referees’ questionable call benefitted Kansas City in the AFC Championship game
Last night against Buffalo, Mahomes threw a pass on 3rd & 15 to Xavier Worthy in the 2nd quarter of the game. The receiver made a catch despite being covered by two defenders and initially, the possession was in safety Cole Bishop’s hand but as the duo went down, the ball slid into Worthy’s hands. When the wideout landed, the review appeared to show the ball touching the ground which meant it should have been ruled as an incomplete pass.
However, the referees did not flinch and ruled the catch to be valid. The second call that could have impacted the outcome of the game came in the fourth quarter. Buffalo took a chance on a fourth-and-inch play by running a quarterback sneak through Josh Allen. However, the entire Chiefs’ defensive line put their energy into pushing the Bills’ O-line and Allen behind.
It was difficult to determine because of the crowding of players. The initial ruling was that Buffalo fell short of scoring a first down, however, another official shared a different opinion, except the play was not reviewed which meant the Chiefs got an opportunity to get back on offense.
Now this was just last night’s scenario. This has been going on for the whole season. In the Divisional Round game against Houston, the Chiefs resorted to hip-drop tackling their rivals‘ receivers but there was no flag thrown on the play. In another instance, Patrick Mahomes attempted to score a first down by rushing but he fell a few yards short because two of Houston’s defenders collided with each other and procedurally hit the quarterback.
However, the referees decided that there was unnecessary roughness on the part of the defenders and penalized the Texans. Frustrated by the calls, Will Anderson Jr. lamented “We knew it was going to be us versus the refs going into the game,” after the loss. Unfortunately, the game has reached a point where teams facing Kansas City know they need more than just their skillset to win the game; they need fate to be on their side as well.
Another notable instance that indicated preferential treatment for the Chiefs took place in September. In KC’s season opener against the Ravens, the team led by one score with 9 seconds left in the second half. Right before Baltimore snapped the ball, Chiefs’ defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo called a timeout by approaching the officials.
There is just one catch, as per the NFL’s rules, only a Head Coach is eligible to call for a timeout. The referees accepted Spagnuolo’s request and the team was allowed to take a timeout. The result? Kansas City wound up forcing an incompletion and Baltimore was unable to score at the end of the half.
Apart from the aforementioned instances, there have been numerous missed calls wherein Kansas City has committed holding or pass interference penalties, and the referees did not penalize them for the same. After a point, it takes the fun out of the game and induces viewers to think that there is an element of bias that has no place in sports.
How will this impact Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ legacy?
The team’s third straight season of making it to the Super Bowl will carry an asterisk next to it. Even if they go on to win in two weeks and establish themselves as the first team to have three-peated in the NFL, Mahomes will never gain that respect of having won fairly.
Every time that the Chiefs’ three-peat is brought up, the circumstance and bias that helped them achieve such a feat will follow in the next sentence. For Patrick Mahomes, this season will serve as the prime reason he cannot eclipse Tom Brady even if he ends up winning more Super Bowls than him. The quarterback remains unbothered by the noise.
Patrick Mahomes believes that fans of opposing teams are deluding themselves into believing the officials stand to gain something by favoring the Chiefs.
I don’t feel that way. At the end of the day, the referees are doing their best to call the game as fair and as proper as they possibly can. And all you can do is go out there and play the game that you love as hard as you can and live with the results…I think that’s what we preach here in Kansas City.
Patrick Mahomes said
While he shares this viewpoint, it is clear that the on-ground reality is a bit different. To him, the strategy he opts to choose is winning by taking advantage of the rules. That is not wrong and historically, the likes of Michael Jordan and LeBron James have done the same in basketball. However, it takes the fun out of football and impacts the competitive spirit of the game to an extent.
Stay Updated!
/techfirstnow/media/agency_attachments/kATjCXskQdJKkXN0OuqW.png)