The NFL Playoffs wrapped up this weekend with the respective conference championship games, and it would be putting it mildly to say the league has some egg on its face after the Chiefs, Bengals game. It was a closely contested game throughout, with neither team able to fully wrest control. That is, until the officials took center stage and the spotlight away from the players in the second half with a mind-numbing series of calls and non-calls that ultimately gifted the game to the Chiefs and send the Bengals back to Cincinnati wondering what the hell just happened.
Though every NFL game will offer a botched call or two from officials, the referees on Sunday offered several head-scratching moments especially toward the end as the Cincinnati Bengals picked up the pace to tie the game. In one particular incident, the referees went as far as to give the Kansas City Chiefs a full extra play after the Bengals stopped them on third down after an official allegedly tried to break up the play before the snap. Since no team appeared to hear the whistle, the play went as scheduled and the Bengals forced a fourth down; the referees gave the Chiefs an extra play anyway.
This play was blown dead by the refs and the Chiefs got another play out of itpic.twitter.com/m0oS4rjxi1
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) January 30, 2023
Calls are missed every Sunday, but that isn’t the issue. It was a combination of late calls, non-calls, officiating mistakes and dubious touch fouls that got the Bengal faithful and apparently the rest of the nation wondering if the league had an ulterior motive. Did they? Were the mistakes made by the crew, one that is supposed to be one of the best as they were officiating a conference title game actual mistakes or was treachery afoot via the league office? It is said that a penalty can literally be called on every play, so the officials have to judiciously choose what they call and don’t call, putting an emphasis on the severity and how the play was ultimately affected. However, when an entire play is run to completion only to be waved off because an official allegedly blew the whistle, a whistle that no one on the field or at home heard, questions must be asked. It didn’t end there. Even though that play didn’t result in a score, the momentum shift and field position shift were huge. More shenanigans were on the way, however.
The “rigged” conspiracy theories only worsened as the game unfolded, especially when the officials appeared to overlook a blatant holding violation by the Chiefs as quarterback Patrick Mahomes ran the ball for a first down, picking up an extra 15 yards due to a roughing the passer call. The Chiefs would go on to score a field goal to seal the victory in the last seconds of the game.
two absolute blatant holding calls missed. nfl rigged pic.twitter.com/CWGU6YhMkK
— john sund (@sundjohn) January 30, 2023
Bear in mind that the missed holding call was on the winning drive, and there was a very questionable roughing the passer call on a Bengal player that gave Kansas City fifteen more yards and a field goal rather than offsetting penalties and another play. To exacerbate matters, the roughing was, by many observers, more of a flop by Pat Mahomes and less egregious than one that went UNCALLED on Joe Burrow earlier in the contest. There was also block in the back on the punt that set up the last drive. Again, bear in mind that that particular penalty is called numerous times a game. There are literally officials whose only job is to monitor the blockers and watch for such a foul, yet the flags stayed in the pocket. Numerous holding calls on the Chiefs offensive line were ignored or missed, and an intentional grounding was called on Joe Burrow so late that it could have been phoned in from New York. Burrow had a receiver less than ten yards away from him by the way.
‘Stop the Steal!: Poor Officiating in AFC Championship Game Sparks Accusations That the NFL Is ‘Rigged‘ https://t.co/o1aEE1iMLx via @BreitbartNews
— Rob Mattox (@RobMattox2) January 30, 2023
There are numerous more examples, but what if it wasn’t just bad officiating? What if there was something mandated from the league at play? When Jalen Hurts and the Eagles punched their ticket earlier in the day, the NFL saw a perfect opportunity to facilitate the first ever meeting of two black quarterbacks in Super Bowl history. Andy Reid, the coach of the Chiefs came to Kansas City from, you guessed it, Philadelphia. How about another? Star tight end Travis Kelce of the Chiefs has a brother Jason Kelce that is a star lineman for? You guessed it, Philadelphia. I am not implying that the players have any hand in throwing a game, or that the outcome is scripted, but it is very convenient that all of these blatant mistakes were made when such a storybook matchup was potentially on the horizon. The officials have the ability to influence a game, and a call from the league could have come down pre-game. Obviously, the dream scenario for the NFL is a game where there are multiple, compelling storylines. The alternative is the NFL’S officials are preposterously inept, and that is a problem in itself. Whatever the reason, the officials held too much sway in the outcome, the league got its desired Super Bowl matchup, Joe Burrow and the Bengals will be watching from home, and the NFL looked more like the WWE than a real sports league.
Featured image screen grab from embedded Tweet
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