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by Julian Spivey  There were some excellent NFL Playoff games during the Divisional Round last weekend, but the biggest story seemed to be the perceived officiating bias benefiting the Kansas City Chiefs. The perception that the league and its officials intentionally benefit the Chiefs has been going around for a while among fans of the game during the Chiefs’ successful run that has seen the team in seven consecutive AFC Championship Games. This is the kind of thing that you’ll often see among sports fans when a team is on a significant run—we’re seeing it right now in baseball with fans claiming the Los Angeles Dodgers are ruining or breaking baseball with their free agent signings, despite the fact that the Dodgers have only won two championships in the last 30 years. Sports fans tire of dynasties quickly and sometimes refuse to give credit where it’s due for a team’s success. Critics of the New England Patriots dynasty were/and still are quick to bring up things like Spygate and Deflategate for that team’s success. Since the Chiefs haven’t had any real scandals, fans must make up their own and have come up with the idea that the team benefits from rigged or at least biased officiating, especially when it comes to plays involving its star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. But if you simply look at the facts, which are easy to do in the world of sports, because sports keep statistics for damn near anything, you’d see this isn’t the case. According to The 33rd Team, the Chiefs have gotten the least amount of help from NFL officials since Mahomes became the team’s starting quarterback in 2018. Since 2018, the Chiefs have ranked first in total penalty yards, meaning the team has literally had more penalties called on it than any other team in the league. The team ranks 21st (of 32) in total penalty margin. It’s dead last (32nd) in offensive penalties committed and 31st in defensive penalties committed. If you want to shorten the sample size, as Sharp Football Analysis did, and go back to 2021, the Chiefs have had fewer penalties than their opponent in 52.9% of games – so not outrageously in the majority. That number has been more lopsided in the postseason. In 11 postseason games since 2021, the Chiefs have only had more penalties than their opponent once. But wouldn’t you expect a team in the postseason year-in-and-year-out and with three of the last five Super Bowl titles to be, I don’t know, the better team when it comes to penalties? According to the Associated Press, the Chiefs have been penalized 147 more yards over the last three seasons than their opponents, including the postseason. Do you think the team gets preferential treatment in the game's biggest moments? The AP also shows this hasn’t been true. During Mahomes’ tenure as QB, the Chiefs have the seventh-worst penalty differential in the fourth quarter and overtime in the league. They have also received 20 fewer first downs via penalty than their opponents in the second half of games in that span. Then there are the people complaining about how Mahomes can’t be touched without the defensive team receiving a roughing the passer penalty, which happened twice in the Divisional Round last weekend against the Houston Texans (and both were explained by the league afterward). When it comes to roughing the passer calls on quarterbacks per 100 pass attempts, a stat I didn’t realize was tracked until this week, Mahomes only has the seventh-highest percentage among active NFL starting quarterbacks. Statistically, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (who will face the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday) receives the most roughing-the-passer calls against him. Both Mahomes and Allen started their careers as starting QBs in 2018. Allen has had 38 roughing-the-passer calls on hits on him. Mahomes has had 31. The problem is that people don’t care about facts these days. They care about perception, groupthink, what memes say and what they believe in their minds. They don’t want to do research or read articles about it. They want to cry, “The league is rigged! The refs are on the Chiefs’ payroll!” If you want to think NFL officials give the Chiefs preferential treatment, go ahead. Just know it’s all in your head.
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