KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Almost overnight, the world has turned on the Kansas City Chiefs. Or at least a seedy underworld where no one is accountable and everyone has a weaponized keyboard. A franchise that is more cuddly than a Beanie Baby is suddenly defending itself against accusations of friendly whistles from officials, fake slides and an NFL deep state.
Part of it is jealousy. Part of it is social media gone bad. Part of it is ignorance. Whatever it is, you better believe they’ve noticed here in the seat of NFL power as the Chiefs go for an unprecedented third consecutive Super Bowl.
“If they aren’t hating you, you ain’t the top dog,” Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie told me Sunday night from his locker at the AFC Championship Game. “My brother was a Patriots fan when Tom Brady was there. I used to hate the Patriots. Being in that position to be ‘the one’ that everybody hates is a great feeling.”
Chiefs beat Bills by inches but prove they are miles apart as quest for historic three-peat continues
Dennis Dodd
Hate might be too strong a word, but it definitely gives some definition to the perception of this proud franchise by some misguided trolls. Most of the noise started after the Chiefs divisional playoff win over Houston. There was a roughing the passer penalty against Houston’s Will Anderson Jr. that extended a Kansas City drive. Anderson then put out fire with gasoline after the game.
“We knew it was going to be us versus the refs going into this game,” he said.
In that same game, Patrick Mahomes was accused of “flopping” trying to draw a call out of bounds. Then the quarterback’s trainer apparently admitted as much judging from this tweet.
That sums it up, or should sum it up if this craziness had abated. It hasn’t. There’s a whole page on TikTok titled “Patrick Mahomes Fake Slide.” Even Troy Aikman got involved while doing the Chiefs-Texans game.
Then, Josh Allen’s failed sneak here Sunday on fourth-and-1 was a controversial turning point to say the least.
And I can’t believe I’m giving this oxygen, but there is now a petition to sign at change.org titled “Boycott NFL Games Until Adequate Officiating Measures Are Implemented.” As of Thursday afternoon, it was stated 1,859 persons had signed the petition alleging that “inconsistent refereeing, particularly evident while observing games involving the Kansas City Chiefs, is tarnishing this beautiful sport’s spirit.”
So that confirms it. A sample size equivalent to the population of Star Valley Ranch, Wyoming, is pissed.
“I don’t pay much attention to it,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said Thursday during the team’s last local media availability before they head off to New Orleans next week.
“I think everything balances out. You’ve got a human element there with the officials. They’re doing the best job they possibly can out there. They’re taking a lot of heat. One way or the other. Coaches take a lot of heat one way or the other.”
To suggest the NFL is favoring the Chiefs defies common sense. That means Roger Goodell is risking a multibillion-dollar business to favor the No. 33 TV market in a flyover state to make sure it wins a third straight Super Bowl.
Note to the haters: If you don’t have credibility, you don’t have a league. The whole thing becomes pro wrestling, with prescribed outcomes. Even the hint of that being the case could ruin the NFL. Goodell knows this.
College types have long been scared spitless of this prospect for years. In a climate much less regulated than the NFL, the college game’s stakeholders continually fear somebody, somewhere, will actually get to the players/officials to actually alter the outcome of games. The NIL era has made it less likely but not much.
The Supreme Court began allowing state-sponsored sports betting in 2018. That added a whole new level of concern in the college space, particularly football and basketball. Noted gaming expert Matt Holt was quickly retained by all (then) Power Five conferences in the last five years to flesh out what is now commonly called “integrity” issues.
Those issues were described in detail to me by former mob boss Michael Franzese. Some of the stuff he told me raised the hair on my arm. Franzese had actually fixed games and, um, penalized those who didn’t pay up.
What is happening to the Chiefs’ rep does not involve gambling integrity issues. But it’s fair to say the increased scrutiny and conspiracy regarding every close call in every major sport has something to do with legalized gambling. People don’t like to lose money. Most of them do when they gamble. You might have heard: The house always, eventually, wins.
The accusations have threatened to overshadow what’s been a historic run. Instead of it being about those three straight Super Bowls, part of this postseason has been hijacked. It is unfair that a team with the game’s best quarterback and two elite play-callers (Reid and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) can be questioned by a loner in his mom’s basement.
Mainly, we’re witnessing what social media usually does in these situations — exaggerate, bloviate and excoriate. Like a dog that won’t let go of a bone, it’s taken this particular subject and gnawed on it like a worn chew toy.
Dynasties can be boring, sure, especially when your team isn’t a part of one. Repetition is, well, repetitive. The Los Angeles Dodgers are the latest dynasty, outspending everyone to the point the New York Yankees are jealous.
But baseball doesn’t have a salary cap. The NFL might have the most parity of any league. To get to this point has required the Chiefs to out-think, out-draft and out-evaluate everyone else.
Running back Kareem Hunt was signed off the couch barely four months ago. Hunt led the NFL in rushing in 2017. The Chiefs released him in 2018 after a video showed him shoving a woman. Charges were never brought. Hunt’s gratefulness at his current situation was palpable Thursday.
“It didn’t feel really real,” Hunt said upon getting to his first Super Bowl.
Punt returner Nikko Remigio, who set up a touchdown Sunday with a 42-yard return, was an undrafted free agent. The offensive line was a mess. The Chiefs best receiver, Rashee Rice, has been out since Week 4 with a knee injury. Former first-round draft pick Hollywood Brown signed a one-year deal and played two regular season games. (The receiver returned for the playoffs.)
Rookie wideout Xavier Worthy has proved himself human as well as … worthy. He was caught by NFL Films on Sunday with his back to the field on Allen’s fourth-and-5 incompletion that gave the ball to the Chiefs, who then ran out the clock.
“I don’t like watching last-second field goals, last-second plays,” Worthy said. “I feel like it’s bad luck every time I watch it.”
That’s not the look of a team profiting from a grand conspiracy. Neither is this: The Chiefs have played on the edge like no other team in history, winning their last 17 one-score games.
“To me this team is special because it’s been everybody,” Mahomes said. “If you look at our entire season, it’s someone who makes a big play at the biggest moment to go out there and win a football game. It’s something I’ll remember this season by.”
The Chiefs are now giving the Patriots a run for becoming the best NFL dynasty ever. Here’s a key difference in this discussion: The Chiefs are easier on the digestive tract. Brilliant coach, but Bill Belichick never did inspire warm fuzzies. If it wasn’t Spygate, it was Deflategate.
Reid is droll, relatable and loves cheeseburgers. As mentioned, the old BYU offensive tackle can also scheme the pants off the opposition. Reid admitted to using a version of Hank Stram’s old “65 Cross Power Trap” against the Bills that helped win the Chiefs first Super Bowl in 1970.
“A tribute to the old guys,” Reid said.
Before the faceless and nameless bang on their conspiracy keyboards, consider the Chiefs have been flagged for the fourth-most penalty yards since 2018. Mahomes is now 19 of 27 in the fourth quarter of his playoff career in game-tying or go-ahead drives. The latest came Sunday when Mahomes led the Chiefs to an 11-7 run in the fourth quarter to win the AFC Championship.
That’s more clutch than luck.
You can be bored watching a dynasty. You can’t be ridiculous analyzing it.
