LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 11: Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates after defeating the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime during Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
NFL Rigged: The Kansas City Chiefs are going to the Super Bowl...Again! And bad officiating helped them get there...Again! There were three calls that aided the Chiefs in Sunday's AFC Championship win over the Buffalo Bills.
First, on a Patrick Mahomes touchdown run Travis Kelce and Damar Hamlin were going at it physically and verbally. Kelce probably should have been nailed for taunting. Instead, Jordan Phillips came in to protect Hamlin and pushed Kelce in the face and got flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. Had Kelce been flagged for taunting, Phillips would not have joined in and received his penalty.
NFL rigged: Late in the second quarter the Chiefs had the ball on a 3rd and 5 from the 29 yard line. Mahomes heaved a 50/50 ball to Xavier Worthy. Bills defender Cole Bishop had two hands on the ball. Worthy barley had his hand on the ball as both defenders (and the ball!) hit the ground. While both players knees hit the ground Bishop had control of the ball. When both players rolled over Worthy had it. But the ball should have been ruled down and an interception. The NFL was going to let it slide without review until the Bills threw the red flag. After a long review the NFL ruled it was a 50/50 catch and a tie goes to the offense. Bogus!
Now, we should fairly point out Damar Hamlin was called for defensive holding on the play for the Bills. So had the ball been ruled an interception it would not have counted. But field position would have been much different.
NFL RIGGED
NFL Rigged: But the biggest head scratching call of the night was a ball placement on a Josh Allen keeper on 4th down and 1 from the Chiefs 41 yard line. It appeared Allen got to the 40 yard line. As the side judges approached the ball, one had the ball marked at the 40 and the other at the 41, short of the first down. How can two officials see two different things? Ultimately the officiating team marked the ball short, ruling a turnover on downs. Replay confirmed the call because they couldn't see enough to overturn the it. TV announcers Jim Nantz, Tony Romo and rules expert Gene Steratore all said the officials got the call wrong which gave the ball back to the Chiefs.
The Bills had a 1 point lead in the 4th quarter at that point so who knows what would have happened after that? Because of that we will continue to discuss how the the officials helped the Chiefs...Again! And we will be talking about that for at least another year. It's more bad publicity for the NFL.
For more NFL talk tune in each weekday to Craig Shemon and Company from 2-6pm on ESPN Southwest Flordia.
