The NFL can’t kill this conspiracy theory.
Commissioner Roger Goodell, Chiefs players and the NFL referees union have all pushed back on the notion that Kansas City has received favorable calls on their way to Super Bowl 2025.
Still, prominent voices of concern keep rising up.
An interview with former NFL great Terrell Owens on the “Is What It Is” podcast went viral on Tuesday, in which he claims the league has been “blatant” in favoring the Chiefs.
“It’s crazy, because I played the game and I’m watching the game and I’m looking at all these calls that they’re just, that’s benefiting the Kansas City Chiefs,” Owens said. “Look at the game before, against the Texans. [Patrick] Mahomes is smart, he’s dinking around, he’s causing the flag, you know what I mean?
“He’s getting the benefit. He didn’t even get hit. Fifteen-yard flag, the guy, Will Anderson, barely hit him. That can stop the momentum of the game. At that point in time, the Houston Texans were in the game. Those calls right there advances them, gives them extra downs. It changed the whole complexity of the game.”
Owens, who starred for the 49ers, Cowboys and Eagles, said he is friendly with Travis Kelce and that Andy Reid is his “favorite coach” from their time together in Philadelphia.
Kelce’s relationship with pop star Taylor Swift over the past two seasons — and the extra attention she brings to the league — has fueled many fans’ frustrations.
Owens’ interview was from last week, but a tweet by the @_TruthZome_ account helped it go viral just as the NFL is trying to bury the storyline days before Super Bowl 2025 kicks off in New Orleans.
Most fans have pointed to questionable penalties against the Texans in the Divisional Round and a controversial spot in the AFC Championship game for the Bills, but Owens’ worries went back to the Chiefs’ three Super Bowl victories.
“You can even go back to the last couple of Super Bowls, even when the Niners played the Super Bowl,” Owens said. “Look at all the holding calls. If you watched the tape, it was cray. They were getting clothes-lined and they were not calling it. It was blatant, blatant calls that were, like, obvious. It was blatant, it’s unreal. I never would’ve thought I would say that I thought games were rigged, but somebody got plays, but it is unreal at the amount of all calls that are not called against the Kansas City Chiefs that are called against everybody else.”
The Chiefs have defeated the 49ers twice in the Super Bowl and the Eagles once.
In the two games against San Francisco, the 49ers were called for 11 penalties compared to the Chiefs’ 10.
The Eagles were called for six — including a controversial defensive holding call against James Bradberry on the game-winning drive — compared to the Chiefs’ three in their meetings.
Fans — and maybe even NFL greats — will be quick to pounce on any questionable calls come Sunday when the Eagles get another crack at the Chiefs.
