Buffalo Rumblings
It’s finally here! The now-annual game between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs that millions of NFL fans tune in for hits televisions late Sunday afternoon. Of course the biggest draw is always at quarterback, with Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes among the game’s best… ever.
However, no matter what happens between these two football teams, the officials seem to be a talking point in almost every game. It happened last year after Allen was ruled short on an important play that didn’t lose the game, but certainly changed the momentum. So who’s set to officiate the latest regular-season matchup on Sunday? It’s none other than Carl Cheffers and his crew on the call.
Chiefs fans are probably thinking that this is the worst outcome possible. The fan base is under the impression that Cheffers tends to be biased towards opponents of Kansas City. Much of this sentiment stems from the 2016 AFC Divisional Round playoff game where a holding penalty wiped out a two-point conversion attempt that would have tied the score in a Chiefs loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. In the aftermath of that game, tight end Travis Kelce said that Cheffers should never be allowed to wear a referee jersey again.
As for where Cheffers comes into play between KC and Buffalo on this subject? Cheffers was leading the crew that called wide receiver Kadarius Toney for lining up offside, thus negating a Chiefs’ game-winning touchdown against the Bills in 2023. On the flip side, Cheffers was officiating Kansas City’s Christmas game against the Houston Texans last season where Patrick Mahomes seemed to get some pretty favorable calls.
More recently, the Chiefs already had Cheffers’ crew to kick off the season against the Las Angeles Chargers in Brazil. In that game, Kansas City was penalized 10 times. As for the Bills, Cheffers called the Divisional Round playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens during the 2024 season that saw decent officiating all around.
Cheffers isn’t afraid to call offensive holding and false starts, as they are his most-frequent penalty calls in 2025. This doesn’t bode well for the Bills, who lead the league in offensive holding penalties. With Mahomes and Allen there’s always a chance for a roughing-the-passing penalty anytime they drop back. But that might be difficult this time around as Cheffers has only called two of those this season.
