The NFL has been accused of a “sneaky” refereeing decision for the Chiefs-Bills AFC Championship Game on Sunday.
All season long, fans have complained about a perceived referee bias in favor of the two-time defending champions, while players have even expressed a similar sentiment.
That issue came to the fore again last weekend when Patrick Mahomes took two controversial penalties against the Texans. Fans have accused the league of being “rigged” in the Chiefs' favor this season.
However, one content creator has claimed that, based on his record, the referee assignment for Sunday's game favors the Bills.
“The NFL just did something really sneaky for the AFC Championship Game, and they hope no one notices,” he said in a now-viral clip.
Clete Blakeman will be the referee for the AFC game.
Clete Blakeman has been selected to referee Sunday's AFC Championship game
And one content creator believes the assignment could favor Josh Allen's Bills over Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs
And while the Chiefs have been dominant since Patrick Mahomes took over as starter in 2018, the team is just 5-6 in games with Blakeman in that span.
The Bills, meanwhile, are 5-2 with Blakeman as referee over the past five years.
Additionally, Blakeman has called 53.17 percent of his penalties on the home team this year, which is nearly four percent more than the league average, according to Pro Football Reference.
The Chiefs host the Bills on Sunday at Arrowhead Field.
According to NFLPenalties.com, Blakeman's team called the most penalties per game last season, averaging 15.8 per game. However, the referee will not be with his normal team for this play-off match.
On Wednesday, Mahomes rejected the idea that referees would give his team favorable calls or extra protection.
“I don't think about it that way,” Mahomes told reporters during a news conference. 'At the end of the day I just try to play football. The referees do their best to call the game as fair and correct as possible and all you can do is go out and play the game you love as hard as you can and live with the results.
“So for me it's going out there, playing hard, trying to do what I can to win the football game and then living with the results based on my efforts and the way we played the game. So I think that's what we preach here in Kansas City.”
In the second half, an unnecessary roughness penalty was controversially assessed to the Texans
Blakeman has called just one Bills game this season (a game Buffalo won) and has not called a Chiefs game this year.
The last Chiefs game Blakeman mentioned was their 2023 Christmas Day loss at the hands of the Las Vegas Raiders.
In one play last week, Houston's Henry To'oTo'o was called for unnecessary roughness when he and teammate Folorunso Fatukasi both attempted to tackle Mahomes while he was running.
Mahomes slipped at the last second, causing the two Texans players to collide – with minimal contact on the Kansas City quarterback.
Nevertheless, the officials penalized the Texans for 15 yards in a move that was panned by ESPN's Troy Aikman, who called the play, and the network's rules analyst Russell Yurk.
Will Anderson Jr. of Houston also received a warning for roughing the passer on Mahomes on another play.
