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Throughout this postseason, much has been made of the Kansas City Chiefs’ perceived favor with NFL referees, as several controversial calls benefited the Chiefs in both the divisional round vs the Houston Texans and the AFC Championship Game vs the Buffalo Bills. The rumors have turned into a public relations crisis for the NFL and have also cast doubt as to just how much of the Chiefs’ dominance can actually be attributed to them.
One person who isn’t here for all the chatter is none other than Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, who recently spoke on the concern that referees might feel the need to overcorrect for the favorable Chiefs calls and instead give close calls to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 59.
“I don’t think the officials care about what’s said,” Reid said, per Michael David Smith of NBC Sports’ Pro Football Talk. “They’re doing their job and they’re doing it to the best of their ability. They don’t favor one side or the other, that’s not how this thing goes. It’s a good story but that’s not reality of how it works. You’d be insulting them to think that’s what they do. They go out and they call it like they see it. There’s some, as a coach, I sit there and I go, ‘I don’t agree with it.’ There’s some I agree with. That’s how it goes.”
Several pieces of data have been unearthed over the last couple weeks showing shocking discrepancies in the amount of calls that the Chiefs get vs their opponents throughout their dynastic run of the last several years.
In the AFC Championship Game against the Bills, it was a first down that Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen appeared to get but was ultimately ruled short of the marker which drew the ire of NFL fans everywhere. In the previous round, Patrick Mahomes benefited from not one but two highly questionable personal foul penalties on the Houston Texans.
Eagles fans are also well-versed in the Chiefs’ perceived referee advantage, as Kansas City won Super Bowl 57 in large part due to a late defensive holding call on Philadelphia.
In any case, Super Bowl 59 is slated for Sunday at 6:30 PM ET.
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