SUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTERS
ADVERTISE| CLASSIFIEDS| JOBS| E-TRIB
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS NETWORK TRIBLIVE LOCAL
Western Pennsylvania's trusted news source
Could backlash over alleged referee-favoritism toward the Chiefs benefit the Eagles in the Super Bowl? | TribLIVE.com
Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Steelers/NFL

Could backlash over alleged referee-favoritism toward the Chiefs benefit the Eagles in the Super Bowl?

Tim Benz
Tim Benz

Sponsored by:

Mike's Beer Bar
8183422_web1_AP22352729177250
AP
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes talks with referee Carl Cheffers during a game Dec. 18, 2022, in Houston.

The Kansas City Chiefs and superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes get the benefit of so many officiating calls that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had to answer a question about the trend being intentional during his pre-Super Bowl press conference.

“That’s a ridiculous theory for anyone who might take it seriously,” Goodell said of preferential treatment toward Kansas City.

The Ringer’s Rodger Sherman posted an excellent deep dive into the “Kansas City gets all the calls!” theory this week, partially debunking it.

“Since the start of the Mahomes era, the Chiefs have been called for eight more penalties than their opponents in the regular season, and 21 fewer if we include postseason games. They have been penalized for 954 more yards than their opponents in that span in the regular season,” Sherman writes.

Not to mention, the “You can never even touch Patrick Mahomes!” complaint doesn’t hold as much water as you might think. Among active quarterbacks, Sherman claims Josh Allen, Jared Goff and Kirk Cousins have gotten more roughing the passer calls than him.

I would’ve preferred if Sherman opened the window a little later — maybe around 2020 or 2021 after Mahomes was anointed as The Chosen One and an established Super Bowl winner. I wonder if that may paint a more representative picture of complaints from rival fanbases.

Or, maybe even just go over the past two or three years as a way to challenge the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce element of the conversation. After all, that’s where the real conspiracy theories have been simmering.

Yet, Sherman points to a few caveats that lend credence to gripes about the Chiefs. They are definitely worth reading in full context from his original story. Here are the shortened bullet points:

• Specifically on late-game drives with Mahomes at the helm, the Chiefs offense does get a disproportionate amount of penalty calls in their favor.

• The Chiefs have a massive amount of defensive holding calls on Mahomes’ receivers in their favor. It’s 86 since 2018, the most in the NFL.

• Reid’s successful challenge rate is at 49.7%. Throughout history, NFL coaches are at 40%. He’s 21 of 35 (60%) in games Mahomes has started. So, it might be more about the replay officials than the on-field zebras. That, in a way, probably feels more fishy to fans outside of Kansas City.

More sports

• Tim Benz: Kenny Pickett's Super Bowl quotes create interesting Steelers QB hypothetical
• After Pitt's loss to Virginia, Jeff Capel held his tongue: 'I don't want to say anything crazy'
• Jagged Penguins schedule may not be such a bad thing after all

On his weekly radio appearance on WDVE, Western Pa. native Gene Steratore was asked if there has been such a groundswell of complaints about the officiating being in favor of K.C. that there might be an overcorrection toward the Philadelphia Eagles during Sunday’s Super Bowl between the teams.

Steratore — a retired Super Bowl referee who now is an officiating analyst for CBS — said that’s unlikely.

“It sounds right. But … no,” Steratore said with a laugh. “You’re human. You understand what the buzz is. But do I think that changes what happens once you get down (on the field)? I know I wasn’t good enough to decipher all that. I couldn’t digest all that in three seconds (before making a call).”

Steratore insisted that fear of backlash over getting a call wrong in the Super Bowl is more prevalent than pandering toward public perception.

“You just want to get every single play,” Steratore insisted. “Because you realize that a five-second blip in the wrong call at the wrong time causes grandkids to have to watch you on ESPN Classic. ‘Daddy, I never met Grandpa. But they’re yelling at him on this TV. Is that him?’”

Steratore advised any officials working in the Super Bowl to avoid any such online or media chatter about the topic.

“You want to make sure that you are working at the highest level you can,” Steratore insisted. “You’ve got to get away from the noise for 48 hours before they kick this football off.”

That’s good advice. But good luck in doing so.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.

Get Ad-Free >

Categories: Sports | Steelers/NFL | Breakfast With Benz | Tim Benz Columns
Sports and Partner News