So I've seen a lot of anger about the Chiefs, people saying they cheated, the NFL wants them to win, etc, but I've never heard anyone say *why*. Why the Chiefs? KC isn't that big of a market. Is it that Mahomes and Kelce are popular now? Do the powers that be love State Farm?
I have no idea if anything bad is actually going on, but this just reads more like people are tired of them being good than an actual conspiracy. I feel like a Bills win would have been a lot better for the NFL.
I have a co-worker that thinks its being done for sports betting. He thinks the games are fixed, but he still bets on them, so he's not exactly bright.
Were there even any roughing the passer penalties in the AFCCG? I don't remember seeing any. Though anecdotal, I can appreciate some stats-based evidence like that. That's unfortunate if true. I think we've become the new Patriots and I now know why I hated them so much.
I think there was a personal foul one that got tacked on at the one of one of Mahomes' rushing TDs. I feel like they called it a roughing the passer penalty initially but it was just a personal foul for something.
Not saying it's rigged, but Mahomes has been treated well by the zebras in the playoffs. (Small sample sizes and all.)
SI - One Stunning Stat About Patrick Mahomes’s Penalty Advantage in Playoffs Says It All
Except it ignores shit like the other teams play. The Ravens had like 5 that should have been called in the AFC Champ game last year, but they only called like 2 of them. One of them the guy pretty much full on fucking uppercutted Mahomes while he was throwing even and it was clearly deliberate. Pretty sure they called that one, but didn't call one on I think the previous play which was almost as bad.
Plus, I mean when teams do dumb shit like the Cinci player in the AFC Champ game the year before, blatantly shoving him when he's already out of bounds, then you deserve to be flagged.
The bitching about the Texans games was dumb. For starters, they bitched about one that wasn't even called, which is all you need to know how full of fucking shit people are about it. The other two were legit. The Texans guy hit Mahome's facemask with his helmet, that's a fucking penalty every single time and I have no clue why anyone is acting like it wasn't, but even the one officiating analyst guy tried acting like it wasn't (and then all of that arguments are based on the rear view; the side view shows clear helmet to facemask hit). The other one, both Texans players lowered their helmets trying to hit Mahomes in the helmet, and instead hit mostly each other's helmets, one of them still hit Mahome's helmet as well. Straight up dirty fucking play. Frankly the Texan players are lucky they didn't get ejected for targeting as that's what they were actually doing. There's simply no legitimate argument against that being a penalty, they clearly were aiming for his head after he was already sliding.
I disagree with that guy's assessment of the last one as the shove actually occurred while Mahomes was still in bounds, which is why it wasn't called. It was closer than I thought it was though and I could see it easily being called, which is why teams generally chastise their own players for even doing the fucking shove because it has a high likelihood of leading to a penalty. Plus, Jamal Charles blew out his knee on a similar play (got shoved going out of bounds and he slipped on something on the sideline), which is why the league doesn't want shit like that happening.
Hell in the Super Bowl game against the Eagles, Jason Kelce threw his forearm right into the helmet of a DB that was already on the ground. He clearly wasn't even going for anything other than to do what he did. If it had been a d-lineman doing it to a WR they very probably would have been ejected for targeting. Didn't even get a flag, despite it being a late hit, him leading with shoulder/arm deliberately into the guy's helmet/head, and the ball and both the DB and the WR were already on the ground (so its not like Kelce could claim he was blocking or anything, it was just a dirty fucking hit). But yep, the refs just save the Chiefs.
I feel bad for teams that get legit screwed (the one game this year where the refs didn't call the blatant hit to the QB's helmet in the end zone, which I think resulted in a safety or defensive TD and ended the game was absolutely bullshit, and the Rams PI against the Saints a few years ago was also ridiculous level of BS).
I'm not even claiming the Chiefs don't either get away with shit, but when the complaints are absolutely legit penalties that should have been called (see the fucking jackasses griping about the holding at the end of the Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl a couple of years back, where even the DB was like "yeah it was a hold" but asswipes try to argue it wasn't) its fucking stupid. Further, people ignore plenty of blatant penalties by other teams like just the Chiefs get away with it.