Referee assignments should make no difference in playoff games, but it’s 2025, and Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are in the AFC Championship Game, so here we are.
Fresh off a Divisional Round game against Houston, in which the Chiefs benefitted from three highly controversial calls, the defending Super Bowl champs will host the Buffalo Bills at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Clete Blakeman will serve as the head referee.
Referee assignments for the AFC and NFC Championship Game: pic.twitter.com/lYUpaIfIEW
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 20, 2025
If you believe that NFL referees are in the tank for the Chiefs ( and if you don’t, why don’t you?), this assignment may give you some cause for optimism.
Blakeman’s crew called the most penalties of any officiating crew in the NFL, averaging 15.8 per game. However, Blakeman won’t be assisted by his regular team of officials, so it remains to be seen whether the prolific flag-throwing will continue.
Why should there be optimism for NFL officiating conspiracy theorists?
As CBS Sports reports:
The last time Blakeman officiated a Chiefs game came all the way back on Christmas in 2023 when the Raiders pulled off a shocking 20-14 win over Kansas City. With fans complaining that the Chiefs are getting the benefit of unfair calls, it’s interesting that the NFL has assigned a ref that the Chiefs have struggled to win with. Since Patrick Mahomes took over as the starting quarterback in Kansas City, the Chiefs are 5-6 with Blakeman.
Blakeman was the referee for two of the wildest losses of Mahomes’ career: First, there was Kansas City’s 54-51 loss to the Rams back in 2018. During the postseason that year, Blakeman was the ref for New England’s 37-31 overtime win over the Chiefs in the AFC title game.
Including the playoffs, Mahomes has only lost 26 games in his career and Blakeman has been the ref for six of those.
Could Blakeman’s assignment be an attempt by the league to refute the narrative that the NFL favors the Chiefs? That could have been the intent. However, if Blakeman and his crew throw needless and controversial flags that benefit Kansas City, that plan will have failed.
