Analysis of Referee Favoritism Towards the Chiefs Reveals Shocking Result

Are you tired of being called a tin-foil hat conspiracy theorist when you accuse NFL officials of favoritism toward the Chiefs? Well, today could be your day.

Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis did a deep dive to answer the question that is very much on the minds of NFL fans after the highly controversial Chiefs victory over the Texans in the Divisional Round and the AFC Championship coming up this weekend: Do NFL officials favor the Kansas City Chiefs?

Sharp began by examining the number of penalties against the Chiefs in the playoffs and the number of flags thrown at their opponents.

What he found was incredible.

Per Sharp:

“In their pursuit of being the first team ever to win three straight NFL Championships, the Kansas City Chiefs have played 11 playoff games since 2021,” Sharp wrote.

“In those 11 games, how many times have the Chiefs had more penalties than their opponents? Zero. In those 11 games, how many times have the Chiefs opponents had more penalties than the Chiefs?

“Ten.”

Finding the numbers hard to believe, Sharp even “triple-checked ” them to ensure their accuracy.

Sharp doubled down, “10 games in which opponents had more penalties. 0 games in which the Chiefs had more penalties.”

As CBS Sports’ Douglas Clawson notes, those numbers are not only incredible but also historic.

“The only teams with longer streaks in playoff history were the 1970-82 Dolphins (18) and 1984-91 Broncos (12),” Clawson writes.

As Sharp notes, to dispel the notion of playoff favoritism, one must look at how the Chiefs are penalized compared to their opponents in the regular season. Well, those numbers don’t exactly help Kansas City’s case.

Sharp reports that since 2021, the Chiefs have had more penalties than their opponents in 25 of 68 games (37%).

So, in the last 11 playoff games, they’ve never had more penalties than their opponents. In the regular season, over that span, they’ve had more penalties than their opponents in more than a third of their games.

As Clawson notes, there is a striking disparity between regular and post-season penalty rates.

To put this in perspective, Sharp notes the direct playoff penalty numbers and the win-loss ratio.

“The Chiefs have gone 10-1 in those 11 playoff games with two Super Bowl wins and potentially a third on the way,” Sharp writes. “In total, the Chiefs have 36 penalties in those 11 games.

“Their opponents have 66.

“That’s 30 more penalties and nearly 225 more penalty yards against Chiefs opponents as compared to what they have been flagged for.”

What happens when you break the penalties down by severity, such as 15-yarders and spot fouls versus the 5-yard variety? Hold on to your hats, Chiefsplainers; this will not go well for you.

“Some of the largest, most significant penalties have gone in favor of the Chiefs,” Sharp writes.

• 3 total Defensive Pass Interference or Defensive Holding called on the Chiefs.

• 11 total Defensive Pass Interference or Defensive Holding called on their opponents.

• 1 total Roughing the Passer (15 yards) called on the Chiefs.
• 7 total Roughing the Passer (15 yards) called on their opponents.

• 1 total Unnecessary Roughness (15 yards) called on the Chiefs.
• 4 total Unnecessary Roughness (15 yards) called on their opponents.

• 0 total Unsportsmanlike (15 yards) called on the Chiefs.
• 1 total Unsportsmanlike (15 yards) called on their opponents.

Looking at EPA, the Chiefs have 18.84 Expected Points Added as a result of penalties in those 11 games.

If you think those nearly 19 points don’t make a huge difference over the course of 11 games, Sharp adds, “8 of those 11 games were decided by 1 score or less.”

Sharp notes there could be some plausible expectations for this disparity of penalties. The Chiefs are well-coached, almost all of their playoff games have been at home, it is a relatively small sample size, etc.

However, following a Divisional Round game in which the Texans were flagged eight times for 82 yards while the Chiefs drew four flags for 29 yards, these conversations will continue.

Especially when players are being penalized for barely even touching Mahomes.

The Chiefs will host the Bills at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday at 5:30 EST.