Watch: Refs Miss Clear Foul, Infuriated Fans Fed Up with the Way the Chiefs Are Officiated

Are the NFL refs all secret Swifties? Asking for an Atlanta Falcons fan.

For those of you who didn’t stay up to watch the late NFL game on Sunday night, the Kansas City Chiefs — the only Super Bowl dynasty that will ever be basis for a No. 1 break-up album once Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift invariably split — moved to 3-0 against the Atlanta Falcons, who fell to 1-2 after a 22-17 loss at home.

This wasn’t a back-breaker for the Falcons, since both of the 2-0 teams in the NFC South — the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers — also lost Sunday, and their next three games are against their division rivals. (They play the Saints and Bucs at home, while the Oct. 13 matchup in Charlotte against the Carolina Panthers pits them against arguably the worst team in the NFL, despite a 36-22 win against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.)

Nevertheless, the Falcons kept things close — and had a chance to go into the lead with just over four minutes left when a questionable call by the refs led to an obvious pass interference penalty against Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts in the end zone being overlooked.

The play occurred on a third-and-5 from inside the Chiefs’ 10 with just 4:12 remaining and the score at 22-17.

Facing a blitz, Falcons QB Kirk Cousins fired to Pitts, who was covered by Chiefs defensive back Bryan Cook.

Cook didn’t even look back at the ball, made contact with Pitts before the ball was thrown, then made contact with him after the ball was thrown but well before it got to Pitts.

Pass interference doesn’t apply to the Chiefspic.twitter.com/e9VPidu6Wd

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 23, 2024

“Lot of contact, wasn’t it?” NBC announcer Cris Collinsworth said upon viewing the replay. You don’t say, Cris?

Cousins didn’t convert a fourth-and-5 and the Chiefs got the ball back deep in their end. After a punt, the Falcons managed another long drive that stalled at the Kansas City 13, which allowed the Chiefs to just run out the clock, according to an ESPN play-by-play.

Now, granted, you could argue that the Falcons could have still gone for a field goal and then been in a position to kick another field goal had they held the Chiefs like they did after they turned the ball over on downs. Likewise, the Chiefs might have played differently had the Falcons gotten the ball on the one with a new set of downs — as would have happened had the obvious penalty been called — and went in for the score.

Referee Tra Blank told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s D. Orlando Ledbetter after the game that the move was “a real-time call that officials have to make a judgment on. From the angle that they had at the time, they did not feel that there was a foul committed.”

Which, well, this is the real-time play the officials were analyzing:

“No penalty on the play”

The Play pic.twitter.com/3swBa6V4Kn

— RGF (@rgfray1) September 23, 2024

Other fans noted that this seems to be a pattern with the Chiefs:

Every. Single. Week. pic.twitter.com/OeZe6WUTmv

— Ben (@HowUBenFeller) September 23, 2024

NFL Refs when the Chiefs are playing pic.twitter.com/ZY7CZfHr76

— RGF (@rgfray1) September 23, 2024

The “Cheatin’ Chiefs”—Every week folks pic.twitter.com/FKlV68v2KN

— Timothy Johnson (@MiamiCanes1971) September 23, 2024

And yes, this can always be the perception if a team is particularly dominant — although, in this case, the perception isn’t necessarily different from reality.

Take Patrick Mahomes, particularly when the throws interceptions. The Chiefs’ star has had 22 interceptions in his career called back over flags, along with eight fumbles. (This included two in a razor-thin Week 2 win against the Cincinnati Bengals.)

“In his career, roughly 0.48 percent of his plays are picks that were called back by a flag. In second is Aaron Rodgers, but he’s all the way down at 0.17 percent,” the Sporting News noted.

It is worth noting that Mahomes also throws the ball more than most quarterbacks — most attempted passes since 2018, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell noted, and a number of those interceptions came on an offsides penalty, meaning that Mahomes knew he was launching a “free pass” once he saw the flag — but you get the idea.

It also doesn’t help when a flag helped the Chiefs get into position for a game-winning field goal against the Bengals but the Falcons got a no-call that would have put them at the one yard line just one week later.

We’re not saying anything untoward is happening, of course. Just maybe check your refs’ Spotify accounts for how many times they’ve listened “Anti-Hero” or “Shake it Off,” NFL. Merely an Idea.

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