I do want to make mention of the Bengals' postgame concerns particularly those of their fans. I say this because I was going to make a post about their claims that the refs favored the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game. I didn't because I just didn't feel like it, really. But I do want to remark about it only because in my view their concerns relate to that key thing that could be the difference in this Super Bowl.
First of all, in my honest opinion I do think it was a fairly called game. The officiating was fair and above board. Almost every complaint by Bengals fans was unsupported, particularly the very clear personal foul push out-of-bounds on Mahomes very late that gave the Chiefs better field goal position, and the instance when the officials legitimately tried to get the clock correct -- the result of which produced zero negative impact on the Bengals.
I will say that there was one play that I do think the Bengals had a justified gripe yet never heard a thing about it anywhere! Maybe some brought it up but I just didn't see it in any of the most prominently published complaints. It was when MVS made that slick stretch-the-football move to get it to the 1st down marker. After he stretched the ball out he pulled it back before he was down. At least it looked like he was not down. If he pulls the ball back, and he does not set it firmly on the turf as a downed football, and he is not ruled down, shouldn't then the ball placement be where he pulled it back? If that was the case the Chiefs would've faced a 4th-&-1 instead of being granted the 1st down on a drive that resulted in a touchdown.
Otherwise, all those other moanings and groanings simply had no merit.
Here's the greater point to all this. The Bengals' kingdom also made mention of this: The NFL is rigged!
Here's my response: I agree!
What is crazy is it is rigged just as much against the Chiefs as it is against the Bengals. Did NFLers want to get a Kelce vs Kelce brother match-up? Of course they did. Did they want Andy Reid facing his old team. Sure. Were there other appealing things to a Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl? Clearly. I get all that, but if there is anything untoward to make that happen it is wrong, as I've written about it at length and in my posts however-much-they're-read. I've always been about calling out all the things that impede true genuine competitive integrity in the sport.
I've insisted with solid reasoning and evidence that the NFLers favor those big-market media-darling money-generating teams and the Bengals and the Chiefs have never been in that club. Are the Chiefs in that club now with someone like Patrick Mahomes at the helm? I can't say they haven't wiggled their way into it, but I'm convinced the NFLers are still loathe to have the Chiefs be successful because they simply are not the Cowboys or Patriots or Jets or Giants or...
The main reason I bring the officiating thing up here is because of the concern a lot of people in the Chiefs Kingdom have about the officiating in this upcoming game. The NFL in its great wisdom decided to select a referee crew that notoriously makes the worst calls against the Chiefs.
I'm not going to get into this or that about those calls or the whys and wheretofores about any of it now. I do want to point out right here and now that I do remember a time when Chiefs fans needed to convince themselves This time will be different. This time will be different. There is no way those wretchedly unfavorable and unjustified calls or non-calls will hurt us this time. This time they'll be good officials. This time will be different this time will be different this time will be different...
January 4, 1998.
Chiefs are playing the Broncos in the divisional game, at home, with one of the best defenses in the league. We've got a good shot at this.
I then look and see who's reffing.
Jerry Markbreit.
Great.
I don't remember details but I do remember Markbreit's crew screwing the Chiefs on a number of different occasions previously. Of course looking at this situation, all I could stream through my skull was THIS TIME WILL BE DIFFERENT THIS TIME WILL BE DIFFERENT THIS TIME WILL BE DIFFERENT. I'm thinking we've got such a good team we'll overcome the reffing thing. He can't be that bad that often that we'll get hurt in this game too.
This time will be different.
It wasn't. It was a nightmare.
One of the main things that happened was the Broncos linemen put some kind of petroleum jelly substance all over their jerseys. It was caught early in the game and a clear violation of NFL rules against cheating. Did those players get expelled like they should have? No, of course not because that would've seriously compromised the NFLers desire to get John Elway another shot at a Super Bowl. What happened was the linemen were allowed to go take towels to wipe off those substances, which actually took a few minutes of real time for them to do that. The team was not charged a time-out, they were not penalized in any way for it, and even though I'm sure they could not possibly get all the material off those jerseys they were not required to change their uniforms.
The Chiefs lost one of the greatest heartbreakers in the history of the team by less than a touchdown score.
Thanks, Jerry Markbreit.
The one single point in this preview post is this:
This game should be very close. As a Chiefs fan I'd like to think Patrick Mahomes will not let us lose this game. Even in that ugly Super Bowl loss to the Bucs a couple years ago Mahomes was the clear-cut MVP, not Brady or whoever they gave it to. There is even a brief video going around now that shows clips of Mahomes' play in that game interspersed with remarks made by non-plussed Bucs players about how phenomenal Mahomes was playing in spite of having a Division II college O-line and butterfinger receivers the whole game.
But if this one is close in spite of Mahomes' heroics, in what ridiculous way is this officiating crew going to hose us? Legitimately, that means they make a legitimately rotten call (that for the 57,000th time officials with monitors in the booth would be able to correct by the way) -- a call that does substantially impact the outcome to our detriment?
Will that happen? If it does, we can lose this game. If it doesn't, I truly think we win.
That's the key. That's my prediction. Sure I could be wrong as any prediction may be, but that's the take, and certainly one you will not read in any major NFLer intimidated publications.
We'll see come Sunday!
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The image was from Getty Images and clipped from Yahoo Sports, thank you.
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