“The Chiefs get all the calls!” 

Is that true? It’s one of the storylines dangling over the Super Bowl 59 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. Kansas City has the reputation of getting favorable treatment from NFL officials this season — and a series of controversial calls in a variety of fashions were examined and re-examined and put out in the social media court of public opinion this season. 

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell dismissed the notion the refs are helping the Chiefs in a press conference on Monday. 

“That’s a ridiculous theory, for anyone who might take it seriously,” Goodell said. “It reflects a lot of the fans’ passion, and I think it also is a reminder for us how important officiating is. And I think the men and women that officiate in the NFL are outstanding.” 

Philadelphia would know. The Super Bowl 57 matchup had a controversial defensive holding call on cornerback James Bradberry that allowed the Chiefs to run most of the time off the clock before Harrison Butker kicked the game-winning field goal in a 38-35 victory.

That was two weeks after Cincinnati linebacker Joseph Ossai was called for unnecessary roughness with eight seconds remaining, which allowed Butker to kick the game-winning field goal in a 23-20 victory. 

It’s been two years of Chiefs dominance ever since — and Kansas City has the chance to pull off the first three-peat of the Super Bowl era. It also featured several controversies involving officials with replays, missed calls and rule interpretations that lead to that assumption that the Chiefs always get their way. 

Let’s break down the most-controversial calls involving the Chiefs in 2024 — and whether the truth really is out there. 

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2024 Kansas City Chiefs regular-season controversies 

Here were the top five regular-season controversies involving the Chiefs this season — all of which occurred in one-score games this season. 

Week 1: Chiefs 27, Ravens 20 

Type of controversy: Replay 

What happened: Baltimore tight end Isaiah Likely appeared to catch the game-tying TD on the final play of regulation, but replay overturned the touchdown. 

Fourth-quarter penalties: The Ravens had one false start for five yards. The Chiefs had two penalties for 15 yards.

Did this call directly impact the outcome? Yes — but it was the right call to overturn the play.  

Verdict: After a billion replays, it appeared Likely’s toe was out of bounds. 

Week 2: Chiefs 26, Bengals 25 

Type of controversy: Late flag 

What happened: The Chiefs faced a fourth-and-16 with 48 seconds left, and Mahomes threw a deep pass to Rashee Rice. Cincinnati’s Daijahn Anthony was called for pass interference on a late flag, and that set up the game-winning field goal by Butker. 

The only comment I’ll make on the Daijahn Anthony PI call is how egregiously late the flag was

Even Nantz comments, “…and no flag on the play”, to then see the ref reach for his flag after the ball (which ricochets 10+ ft in the air) hits the ground.

pic.twitter.com/V8HgihAXfw

— Andre Perrotta (@andreperrotta13) September 16, 2024

Fourth-quarter penalties: The Chiefs had two holding penalties for 20 yards. The Bengals had three penalties, including an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Ja’Marr Chase. 

Did this call directly impact the outcome? Yes. 

Verdict: The tipped pass hits the ground before the flag comes in — and that was bad. This should have been a Bengals’ win — and that could have altered the entire AFC playoff picture. 

Week 3: Chiefs 22, Falcons 17

Type of controversy: Missed call 

What happened: Three calls in three weeks? The Falcons were driving for the go-ahead TD in the fourth quarter and faced a third-and-five on the six-yard line with 4:13 remaining. That’s when Chiefs defensive back Bryan Cook appeared to interfere with Atlanta tight end Kyle Pitts in the end zone. No flag was thrown, and Kirk Cousins threw an incomplete pass on fourth down on the following play. 

Fourth-quarter penalties: The Chiefs had four penalties for 36 yards in the fourth quarter, including three on the ensuing drive. Atlanta, despite no fourth-quarter penalties, could not pull out the victory. 

Man, this sure looked like defensive pass interference on the Chiefs.

Bryan Cook had his back turned to the ball and was all over Kyle Pitts. pic.twitter.com/289IcVxsG2

— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) September 23, 2024

Did this call directly impact the outcome? No. The Falcons had another drive and could have kicked the field goal. 

Verdict: There is no doubt it’s a missed call, but Atlanta still had another chance to win the game. 

Week 9: Chiefs 30, Buccaneers 24 

Type of controversy: Missed call 

What happened: Chiefs tackle Jawann Taylor moved early on a second-and-five play at the six-yard line in overtime. Instead, Mahomes connected with Travis Kelce for a four-yard pass, and the Chiefs scored on the next play. 

Fourth-quarter penalties: The Chiefs had two penalties for 15 yards in the fourth quarter. The Buccaneers had one penalty for 10 yards. 

Did this call directly impact the outcome? Sort of. That would mean second-and-11 and the TD prevented the Buccaneers from getting a possession in overtime. The difference between the TD and field goal was huge. 

Verdict: This is a worse call than the pass interference on Pitts. 

Week 13: Chiefs 19, Raiders 17

Type of controversy: Rules interpretation 

What happened: The Raiders drove into field-goal range on the final drive at Kansas City, and that is when Las Vegas center Jackson Powers-Johnson snapped the ball to quarterback Aidan O’Connell – who was not prepared for the snap. The ball hit the ground, and the Chiefs recovered. The confusion was afterward — because the play was ruled a backward pass, and Las Vegas was penalized for an illegal shift instead of a false start. 

Fourth-quarter penalties: The Chiefs had two penalties for 15 yards in the fourth quarter. The Raiders had zero penalties in the fourth quarter. 

Did this call directly impact the outcome? Yes. The Raiders were in position to kick the game-winning field goal and instead had a bizarre game-ending turnover. 

Refs are literally running onto the field signaling false start.

But somehow, unlike any other game, discuss it for minutes, only to find out they can just hand Chiefs the W instead like so many other weeks.

Pathetic.pic.twitter.com/TL5H2BKKq3

— Thomas R. Petersen (@thomasrp93) November 29, 2024

Verdict: It looked more like a false start — and the fact two refs signaled two different calls added to the confusion. Of all the regular-season games — this one spawned the most conspiracy theories because of it. 

Two Bills-Chiefs playoff controversies 

Type of controversy: Replay

What happened: Two calls were part of the Chiefs’ 32-29 victory in the AFC championship game. The first happened in the first half when Xavier Worthy and Buffalo’s Cole Bishop collided in a play that closely resembled the “Fail Mary.” Worthy was awarded a “simultaneous catch” after the review, even though it could be argued the pass was incomplete. There was also defensive holding on the play. Anything else? Then, with the Bills leading 22-21 in the fourth quarter, Josh Allen was ruled short of the first down on a fourth-and-one sneak where the officials had two very different spots. That was upheld by replay, too. 

Did this call directly impact the outcome? Kind of. It’s a different game if the Bills convert that first down and score a TD after the Allen sneak, but Buffalo had their chances, too. 

Fourth-quarter penalties: The Bills had one penalty for 15 yards. The Chiefs had no penalties in the fourth quarter. 

Verdict: Our viewpoint? Worthy didn’t catch the ball, and Allen was short of the first down. Now, we’re talking about lasers deciding first downs. Will this be the “Josh Allen rule?” 

Do the referees help the Kansas City Chiefs? 

There are a couple takeaways here. 

The idea that the Chiefs’ opponents are getting unfairly hit with penalties in crunch time is not true. In those six games, Kansas City’s opponents had a total of five penalties for 69 yards, and the Bengals had three penalties for 54 yards. Cincinnati has the biggest gripe in terms of the penalties — especially with the questionable pass interference at the end of the Week 2 game. Cincinnati missed the postseason by one game and is the last team to beat Kansas City in the AFC playoffs. 

There was not a roughing the passer call on Mahomes in the fourth quarter of any of those games, and the Chiefs had 12 penalties for 101 yards in the fourth quarter of those six games that had controversial fourth quarters. Mahomes isn’t necessarily getting the calls here — which is kind of a surprise — but that is not the heart of the issue when it comes to the Chiefs and the officials. 

It is the perception that in those six games — where there were seven game-changing calls — all seven went Kansas City’s way. Most franchises would hope to win a best-of-seven series there on those calls. The Chiefs got a sweep. 

Chiefs fatigue is contributing to that notion that the game is rigged. Yet the missed calls, judgment calls and reviews all went the Chiefs’ way in these cases. The Ravens, Bills and Bengals have been the toughest competition in the AFC — and those teams are a combined 1-6 against Mahomes-led Kansas City in the postseason. 

It comes down to a question: If Super Bowl 59 is tight in the final two minutes in a one-score game, and there is a controversial call — who gets that call? 

Most people will assume the tie goes to the Chiefs. Until Kansas City loses — fair or not — that is the prevailing perception.