KC Chiefs colluding with the NFL does not add up.

[Triumph]

Its tough to sit and watch another team smash NFL records when you used to be King of the hill.

I dont like it any more than you men.

Chiefs-Refs Conspiracy Theory Is Just That: Super Bowl Data Viz

NFL refs have been accused of favoring the Kansas City Chiefs. We analyzed the data in advance of the 2025 Super Bowl.

www.sportico.com

 

[Pape]

Its tough to sit and watch another team smash NFL records when you used to be King of the hill.

I dont like it any more than you men.

Chiefs-Refs Conspiracy Theory Is Just That: Super Bowl Data Viz

NFL refs have been accused of favoring the Kansas City Chiefs. We analyzed the data in advance of the 2025 Super Bowl.

www.sportico.com

That article was written by a NFL shill, no doubt about it...

The first chart says it all. and its the post season that counts. They are so far above the other teams they have become an outlier

 

[Triumph]

That article was written by a NFL shill, no doubt about it...

The first chart says it all. and its the post season that counts. They are so far above the other teams they have become an outlier

Josh Allens failed 4th and 1 call had no clear evidence that he made the marker. The contested catch where the DB and WR both had the ball goes to the WR. Tie goes to the offense and the ball can hit the ground so long as it does not move. The calls for roughing the passer wont be called if you dont get near Mahomes head.

KC is just better. Better GM, HC, QB, DC, ST.

 

[Pape]

Josh Allens failed 4th and 1 call had no clear evidence that he made the marker. The contested catch where the DB and WR both had the ball goes to the WR. Tie goes to the offense and the ball can hit the ground so long as it does not move. The calls for roughing the passer wont be called if you dont get near Mahomes head.

KC is just better. Better GM, HC, QB, DC, ST.

that play is not what is "in play" here. Its about the penalties. and those roughing calls do come even when hes a "runner"

 

[NE_Zealot]

The Chiefs’ assistance from the league is more about Taylor. The owners desperately want the viewers she brings in to boost the revenue split. They care more about $$$ than winning, that’s why they are going along with it.

 

[FortressX]

The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.​

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The NFL Doth protest too much, methinks

FortressX butchering a Shakespeare quote.

 

[Ross12]

The Chiefs’ assistance from the league is more about Taylor. The owners desperately want the viewers she brings in to boost the revenue split. They care more about $$$ than winning, that’s why they are going along with it.

Kinda shooting themselves in the foot though, right? Let’s say you’re a Swiftie and you’ve tuned in the past two seasons specifically because of Swift. Your experience with football has been the Chiefs barely ever losing, winning (potentially) back-to-back Super Bowl titles, and being pampered at every turn. You will expect that this is just how football works and it’s great! You view the NFL as the Chiefs being the heroes and the other 31 teams simply being their punching bags.

Eventually that narrative has to end and the Chiefs have to become a relatively normal team again. When they stop being automatic title winners/getting Super Bowl appearances, will those Swift fans understand and keep watching or will they think the “quality of the product” has fallen off and disappear to go back to watching the Kardashians?

 

[NE_Zealot]

Kinda shooting themselves in the foot though, right? Let’s say you’re a Swiftie and you’ve tuned in the past two seasons specifically because of Swift. Your experience with football has been the Chiefs barely ever losing, winning (potentially) back-to-back Super Bowl titles, and being pampered at every turn. You will expect that this is just how football works and it’s great! You view the NFL as the Chiefs being the heroes and the other 31 teams simply being their punching bags.

Eventually that narrative has to end and the Chiefs have to become a relatively normal team again. When they stop being automatic title winners/getting Super Bowl appearances, will those Swift fans understand and keep watching or will they think the “quality of the product” has fallen off and disappear to go back to watching the Kardashians?

Given the poor competition level of the league they may stick around as it is very easy to latch on to a winner. With no challengers to the KC throne I don’t see how the Chiefs’ money train is derailed anytime soon. The league is getting the best of both worlds, eyeballs to Taylor and people coming through the door in droves to hate-watch KC.

 

[Nikolai]

Had it not been for TFB and BB, the NFL was trying to do this with Forehead and the Clots. They bent, then changed the rules, gave them the TV/commercial exposure, and tried sabotaging TFB for years. Now, the NFL is getting what it wants.

The super conspiratorial side of me believed the hate for the NFL toward the Pats had a lot to do with them ruining well laid plans with Manning. If a team challenges the Chiefs, maybe we'd see the same thing?

I only watch the Pats these days. Maybe I'm a tin-foil nutter, but I'm satisfied with that...I guess...

 

[denverpatsfan]

It ends today.

 

[Nikolai]

Also, a quick look at the article brings up a lot of questions about the methodology behind the analysis. Given the defensive tone of the article, one could infer some bias in the research and analytical method, with the author himself acknowledging weak points in the data used to make the argument.

Of course, this data analysis is incomplete. The nflfastR win probability model is just that—a model—and does not definitively determine referees’ impact. More generally, looking at penalties alone excludes crucial no-calls and any plays not involving penalties altogether, such as Xavier Worthy’s controversial simultaneous catch in the second quarter of the AFC Championship.

All the more reason that anyone claiming to have data proving that refs favor the Chiefs is being disingenuous.

The logic does not follow here, because one could say that the argument against referee bias is disingenuous for the same reason. Admittedly, the author would have had to do a lot of work to bring meaningful numbers to the table, but he probably shouldn't be so forceful in his language if that's going to be the case.

 

[NE_Zealot]

Ralph Waldo Emerson


FortressX butchering a Shakespeare quote.

I think it’s also too late for the league or anyone to turn the tide. Even if there is no conspiracy the idea has saturated the ether and taken root among the masses. Go anywhere on social and the chorus of Refs/Chiefs collusion is only getting louder by the hour. The NFL should be alarmed that 70 percent or so think the league is scripted.

In the 30s or 40s (I forget which decade for sure) journalists basically debunked pro wrestling as fake. It took years for people to buy in again. I think it’s an interesting parallel to the NFL basically being the WWE now.

 

[signbabybrady]

I don't like buying into the conspiracy side of things because I just don't want to believe it's fake or fixed. I'm too heavily invested in this thing.

That said there is no conspiracy with the way Mahomes uses the rules to time his going out of bounds or slides with causing late hits or even worse scared tacklers that let him run free out of fear of late hits and roughing the passer.

 

[farn]

Dynasties are complexe. Bad teams, when they get a break, rarely make you pay for it. But great teams only need a little opening to hurt you on the next few plays. And, as such, their importance is amplified : they make plays immediately after a call + they are playing the games that matter and that have eyeballs……. On many occasions, one slip up / weird call & Brady would pounce.

 

[NE_Zealot]

I don't like buying into the conspiracy side of things because I just don't want to believe it's fake or fixed. I'm too heavily invested in this thing.

That said there is no conspiracy with the way Mahomes uses the rules to time his going out of bounds or slides with causing late hits or even worse scared tacklers that let him run free out of fear of late hits and roughing the passer.

There have been people watching wrestling/soap operas for year and they are invested. The NFL is entertainment as well, always a possibility it isn’t on the level, especially with the legal sports book gambling explosion.

 

[tuckeverlasting]

I don't like buying into the conspiracy side of things because I just don't want to believe it's fake or fixed. I'm too heavily invested in this thing.

That said there is no conspiracy with the way Mahomes uses the rules to time his going out of bounds or slides with causing late hits or even worse scared tacklers that let him run free out of fear of late hits and roughing the passer.

i can not stand mahomes pretending to go out of bounds then tiptoeing down the sideline for extra yards and going out right when he's about to get hit to draw a flag on top of all the other shenanigans he pulls and calls he gets. he's been doing that since he's gotten in the league and there's a name for that kind of football but today's sunday so i'll leave that for another time. he's a talented qb that doesn't need to be bush league so suffice it to say i don't like watching chiefs games because of the refs and the way he plays.

 

[Pape]

I don't like buying into the conspiracy side of things because I just don't want to believe it's fake or fixed. I'm too heavily invested in this thing.

That said there is no conspiracy with the way Mahomes uses the rules to time his going out of bounds or slides with causing late hits or even worse scared tacklers that let him run free out of fear of late hits and roughing the passer.

sure, be reasonable...

as long as the conspiracy theories make the other team, and not us, look bad, I'm all in...

 

[Nikolai]

Dynasties are complexe. Bad teams, when they get a break, rarely make you pay for it. But great teams only need a little opening to hurt you on the next few plays. And, as such, their importance is amplified : they make plays immediately after a call + they are playing the games that matter and that have eyeballs……. On many occasions, one slip up / weird call & Brady would pounce.

Yep, I look to the 2017 game against Pittsburgh when a call seemingly went Pittsburgh's way (not giving them the TD - hence allowing them to bleed time off the clock), but actually worked out for the Pats due to superior preparation and a lack of attention and preparation on Pittsburgh's side, when chaos caused a game-sealing interception.

"Luck" is when opportunity meets recognition and preparation.

 

[NE_Zealot]

i can not stand mahomes pretending to go out of bounds then tiptoeing down the sideline for extra yards and going out right when he's about to get hit to draw a flag on top of all the other shenanigans he pulls and calls he gets. he's been doing that since he's gotten in the league and there's a name for that kind of football but today's sunday so i'll leave that for another time. he's a talented qb that doesn't need to be bush league so suffice it to say i don't like watching chiefs games because of the refs and the way he plays.

He’s also added flopping to his repertoire. Brady and Montana never did that crap, that is beneath an all-time great. I lost some respect for Pat when I saw that.

 

[Nikolai]

He’s also added flopping to his repertoire. Brady and Montana never did that crap, that is beneath an all-time great. I lost some respect for Pat when I saw that.

It also doesn't help to dispel the notions that the Chiefs expect calls from the refs.