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Many NFL fans speculated during the height of the Patriots' dynasty that Tom Brady and his teammates received a favorable whistle from officials. Call it a conspiracy theory, but that accusation was common when New England was at its peak.
The Chiefs are the new dynasty of the NFL, and wouldn't you know it: the same accusations are becoming hard to ignore. Plenty of fans believe Kansas City has a special relationship with referees, and they point to that as a reason why the franchise has won 15 consecutive games dating back to last season.
Despite so much success over the past year, the Chiefs have played close game after close game. Are they winning so many of them because of the referees, or is the mere reality that they're good at winning close games just putting an unusually strong spotlight on officiating?
The Sporting News is separating fact from fiction regarding the Chiefs and whether they receive favorable treatment from the officials.
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Chiefs referee controversies timeline: Do officials favor the Chiefs?
The Chiefs are one of the least penalized teams in the NFL this season. With 45 penalties called against them, only the Bengals have seen fewer flags thrown their way.
| Season | Penalties against Chiefs | Penalties against opponent |
| 2024 | 45 | 58 |
Kansas City's opponents haven't been heavily penalized, though. In total, 18 teams have seen their opponents receive more penalties this season, meaning Chiefs opponents are actually being penalized slightly less than the average team.
Overall, the Chiefs rank eighth in net yards gained from penalties this season. That's above average, but four of the seven teams who have benefited even more are under .500. Kansas City's games have been so close that a small penalty gap could be the difference on occasion, but there has been no overwhelming difference between themselves and their opponents.
In 2023, the gap actually went against the Chiefs. Kansas City was called for 112 penalties to their opponents' 100, putting a cloud over the accusations of preferential treatment for the franchise.
When the Chiefs' win streak started, though, something shifted. Kansas City averaged 3.6 penalties over its final six games of 2023, including four playoff games, considerably down from six per game over their first 15 games. The Chiefs were out-penalized by their opponent in the wild-card, divisional and AFC championship rounds. Only in the Super Bowl did the count even out, with the Chiefs and 49ers each called for six penalties.
Here's how the Chiefs' gap shakes out since the start of their win streak, which began in Week 17 of last season:
| Penalties against Chiefs | Penalties against opponent |
| 67 | 89 |
Much of that could be chalked up to improved discipline. The Chiefs shored up their receiving corps late last season by settling on Rashee Rice as their go-to target next to TE Travis Kelce, and OT Jawaan Taylor settled in after a rough start that included a five-penalty game against the Jaguars. Still, it's going to raise eyebrows when a team's penalty ratio suddenly flips when the games matter most.
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Chiefs missed penalties
Now, what about missed calls? Are the officials holding their flags when the Chiefs make mistakes? Quantifying the number of missed calls with data is much more difficult, but there are absolutely examples of missed calls at multiple points during Kansas City's winning streak.
In the last two weeks, officials appeared to miss a false start by Taylor in overtime against the Buccaneers and an apparent hold by Taylor against the Broncos.
Replay of the possibly missed false start the play before the TD pic.twitter.com/Oqfp0PgBPD
— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) November 5, 2024.@Broncos @chiefs @J_FranklinMyers JFM. It is beginning to get a little ridiculous. Ya think? You make the call #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/5tBipDdoP8
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) November 11, 2024In September, fans were outraged when Bryan Cook appeared to interfere with Falcons TE Kyle Pitts in the end zone on third down. An official was actually standing mere feet from the play, but no flag was thrown.
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
The Falcons would get another opportunity to go down the field at the end of the fourth quarter, and in fairness, three penalties against the Chiefs' defense allowed Atlanta to get into the red zone. That is the kind of sequence that would have attracted widespread attention if it had favored the Chiefs but simply didn't because it worked against them. The Falcons still fell short, keeping the spotlight on the apparent missed pass interference call.
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman called out referees for missing another apparent pass interference penalty committed by Cook late in a Chiefs win over the Saints in October, though the outcome of the game was unlikely to change either way.
Looks like a missed pass interference call here as Chiefs CB Bryan Cook clearly makes early contact on Chris Olave. pic.twitter.com/Eh02CBNOLx
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulli) October 8, 2024Every team benefits from missed calls at one time or another. The Chiefs have a special spotlight on them as reigning Super Bowl champions with numerous prime-time games and the many close finishes they have had.
There's no doubt Kansas City has benefited in some key late-game moments, and not just from missed calls — fans remember near-misses like the critical pass interference call that went against the Bengals in Week 2, as well as non-officiating moments such as Isaiah Likely's out-of-bounds toe in Week 1 and the miraculous blocked field goal in Week 10. That all contributes to a feeling that the Chiefs are just getting lucky, even if some of that luck actually has nothing to do with officiating.
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Are the referees helping the Chiefs?
The data points to this conclusion: the penalty gap has favored the Chiefs since their win streak began, but not to the point that Kansas City benefits more than any other team in the league. It's clear, however, that the Chiefs flipped a switch at the end of last season and significantly reduced penalties, averaging 3.6 over their final six games of 2023 and now five per game in 2024.
Penalties shouldn't be equal for every team; some teams are just more disciplined than others, and it's no surprise a team with veteran coaches and a championship pedigree is more disciplined than most. When a team is 15-0 over 15 games, of course the penalty gap is going to be in their favor just about every single time.
At the same time, fans want to see the rules applied evenly, and it's clear there have been some moments this season when officials could have thrown the flag late in games but, for whatever reason, did not.
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