There is a widespread perception that the NFL officials are favoring the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes. The latest statistic to go viral certainly won’t change that notion.
ESPN shared a statistic this week showing how the Chiefs have won the penalty battle in their playoff games over the last several years. In fact, the Chiefs have played 11 playoff games over the last four years. The Chiefs have not been called for more penalties than their opponent in any of those 11 games. Their opponent was called for more penalties than them in 10 of those 11 games.
Most teams were pretty equal with their opponents over who was called for more penalties during their playoff games. The only outliers were the Chiefs, who were beneficiaries, and the Bengals, who frequently lost the penalty battle.
Some interesting penalty differentials that stood out during the Chiefs last 4 postseasons:
7 roughing the passer on opponents… 1 on KC
4 unnecessary roughness on opponents… 1 on KC
11 DPI or defensive holding on opponents… 2 on KC
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) January 21, 2025
The Chiefs also benefited frequently from roughing the passer and unnecessary roughness calls.
There are a few possible explanations here.
One, it’s quite possible that the Chiefs are just a more disciplined team than others that doesn’t commit infractions. Two, they’ve also frequently played their postseason games at home, where teams tend to have a slight advantage with the officials.
Or three: the Chiefs receive some level of favoritism from the referees, generally stemming from a desire to protect star quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
ESPN analyst Troy Aikman, who is a former star quarterback, was critical of the officials for their perceived favoritism towards Mahomes in Saturday’s game between the Chiefs and Texans. Some help on the penalties side may have led to an extremely surprising outcome in the game.
No matter how you look at it, these stats won’t help the perception surrounding the Chiefs and penalties. Kansas City will host the Buffalo Bills on Sunday in the AFC Championship.
