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Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid isn’t losing sleep over it. And Travis Kelce turned a question back on the reporters. But the ridiculous narrative that the referees favor the Chiefs will blow up and favor the Eagles in Super Bowl 59.
First, there is no conspiracy. Using the word ridiculous for the alleged conspiracy is kind. It’s way more stupid than that. Why would a billion-dollar industry condone perhaps the only thing that could bring the industry to its knees? It’s beyond far-fetched.
The only thing the NFL has to protect itself from these days is making sure the games AREN’T fixed. Even the suggestion that they might be fixed puts a ding on the NFL’s wallet.
People pushing the narrative that the Chiefs get calls — especially coaches like DeMeco Ryans and Sean McDermott — are doing their league a disservice. They are planting sour grapes in the face of a historical run. They look more like whiny fans instead of upstanding NFL coaches.
However, the human nature element puts the Chiefs at risk.
Chiefs HC Andy Reid not worrying about it
At least there’s a little clarity from guys like Reid and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Reid acknowledged the referees do the best they can, according to bolavip.com.
“Everything balances out,” Reid said. “You got a human element there with the officials. These guys are trying to do the best job that they (possibly) can out there. They take a lot of heat one way or the other. Coaches dig a lot of heat one way or the other. So, I don’t pay much attention to it. I don’t care, (and) I honestly don’t get into that. I don’t use that with the guys, (and) I just want to make sure we get prepped. You don’t even have to pay attention to the other stuff.”
Goodell said the recent narrative is less than flimsy, according to espn.com.
“This sort of reminds me a little bit of the script,” Goodell said during his state of the league address Monday. “That I write a script, and I have the script for the entire season. I think it reflects a lot of the fans' passion. And I think it also is a reminder for us how important officiating is. And I think the men and women that officiate the NFL are outstanding. They have the highest possible standards.
“Our officials are evaluated in several ways. It's not just the performance on the field. But it's things that go on in their own lives. And we have a very tight control over that.”
Close games have played a big role in Chiefs' 2024 perception
One of the reasons the Chiefs have been scrutinized over this issue is the number of close games they’ve played. Eleven of their 16 games played with starters finished within one score. That leaves a lot of little things that can get overanalyzed. If those games had been blowouts, this conversation wouldn’t be a hot-button topic.
Goodell said the close games are a product of the NFL’s search for competitiveness across the board. It benefits the league when that happens. It doesn’t benefit the league if one team appears to get more than its share of calls.
The point of emphasis problem for Super Bowl 59
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To make this point, simply consider “point of emphasis” situations for the officials. At the beginning of each season, the NFL instructs referees to emphasize certain rules.
Consider this years’s point of emphasis on how tackles line up. Officials received instructions to make sure tackles “break the beltline” of the center. Now think about this work in actual mechanics. It’s hard to imagine this call ever being made without a point of emphasis. Perhaps it might be so obvious that it gets called a few times over the course of the season. But if the officials are locked into this at every pre-snap, they are going to see it more often and throw more flags for it.
This is what happened earlier this season until the teams made adjustments and tackles stop trying to push the envelope.
Let's consider the point of emphasis for Super Bowl 59. Yes, the emphasis is unspoken. Goodell won’t go into the officials locker room and say, “All right, guys. Make sure all close calls go the Eagles way tonight.” That would be absurd.
However, the officials are human. They’ve heard the chatter. They know the sour-grape fans from losing teams hold their excuses close to their hearts.
Two theoretical examples of plays that could work against the Chiefs
Patrick Mahomes drops back and throws the ball deep for Hollywood Brown. Eagles cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson grabs Brown’s hand for a brief moment. It’s the middle of the fourth quarter. Close game. The referee reaches for the flag. But in the micro-seconds of making a decision, the referees questions whether Gardner-Johnson held on long enough to obstruct the catch. He eats the flag.
Here’s another example. Jalen Hurts throws a deep pass to DeVonta Smith. Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie is in good position. Smith’s foot clips McDuffie’s foot and he falls as the ball hits Smith in the shoulder pad. The referee gets a quick glimpse of the foot contact, but has a split-second thought that McDuffie made early contact in another way. It’s a 50-50 call. The flag comes out.
Both plays are dissected on instant replay. It is determined the official made the wrong call on both plays. The Chiefs came out on the bad end of these calls.
Of course, there would be no way to prove pregame chatter impacted the officials. But human nature says every official on the field will want to get every call right — along with the unspoken point of emphasis to make sure the Eagles get a close call or two.
It’s a sad thing this has come up before the Super Bowl. It creates an almost certain arena for controversy.
