The Refs and this “rigged” league

[Billzgobowlin]

5 hours ago, CodeMonkey said:

It's so sad these threads appear after every loss.  If the league is fixed as some seem to believe, why would you bother watching?

This game was much better than last week with officiating but how in the world does the first play get called Offside when it is not an obvious call?  Still don't understand it.  The tackle on Palmer was not a true hip-drop but certainly looked dangerous as he was dragging Palmer's legs into an odd position.  The league seems to figure out when to call penalties on us at the worst possible time and sometimes we can overcome  it but not last night with our receiver corp decimated

[BillytheKid]

 

The Bills have their own problems right now but thought this was interesting anyways

 

 

According to a study Chiefs receive 45% more roughing the passer penalties and 32% more defensive holding penalties going their way than any other team in the league from 2023-25. 
 

At least that is what this video tells me. 

[dayman]

It has been proven

[Low Positive]

9 minutes ago, BillytheKid said:

 

The Bills have their own problems right now but thought this was interesting anyways

 

 

According to a study Chiefs receive 45% more roughing the passer penalties and 32% more defensive holding penalties going their way than any other team in the league from 2023-25. 
 

At least that is what this video tells me. 

Mahomes is working the refs from the first quarter. He gets right in their faces. Their WRs also flop if they feel a tug. Getting calls is part of their gameplan. We ought to do some of that. BTW, Vrabel was working the refs during their game with the Bills. That's how they got that OPI call that changed the game. These are games that successful teams play to get an advantage. 

[Ralonzo]

 

[ChrisWatson#21]

The league will never give up their ability to steer outcomes through officiating.  Their priority isn’t fair games it’s maximizing profits.  Some teams/storylines bring more to the table than others everyone that has watched the NFL for a while knows this by now.  It’s not just Buffalo look at Rodgers and Brees who only got two SB appearances while playing out of the weak NFC.  Look at Cam’s Panthers or Rivers/Tomlinson’s chargers.  The evidence is everywhere.

[The Red King]

This season they want true parity.  There aren't any true runaway favorites.  No overpowering, steamrolling teams.  Powerhouses like Buffalo, KC and Baltimore are faltering.  Upstarts like Indy, Denver and Carolina are joining the fight...though even they appear flawed.

 

Keeps the season more interesting for more fans, and as a result keeps more $$$ coming in.

[Pete]

On 10/14/2025 at 12:17 AM, Big Blitz said:

Set the tone for the game.  I feel like a lot of mentally weak coaches let this get to the players - like here we go again.  

 

 

 

How is that Offside?  ***** the refs!

[Brand J]

If there’s a way to get robot refs on the field to replace human refs, I am 1000% for it. 

[Just Jack]

1 hour ago, Brand J said:

If there’s a way to get robot refs on the field to replace human refs, I am 1000% for it. 

 

Multiple camera angles, and AI could do it. 

[pennstate10]

1 hour ago, Pete said:

How is that Offside?  ***** the refs!

He was lined up in the neutral zone. Look at his hand. It’s on the black line. You can see the flag fly well before the fumble. I agree it was ticky tack, but it was a foul. 
 

The weak PI call on White was worse. There was a play a few plays later where there was more contact than that between Coleman and Falcons dude, no call. It’s the inconsistency in PI and holding that drives me nuts. 

[CodeMonkey]

17 hours ago, Billzgobowlin said:

This game was much better than last week with officiating but how in the world does the first play get called Offside when it is not an obvious call?  Still don't understand it.  The tackle on Palmer was not a true hip-drop but certainly looked dangerous as he was dragging Palmer's legs into an odd position.  The league seems to figure out when to call penalties on us at the worst possible time and sometimes we can overcome  it but not last night with our receiver corp decimated

Always going to the "the human element" involved I suppose.

[Búfalo Blanco]

On 10/13/2025 at 9:39 PM, Búfalo Blanco said:

Hell, the research is starting to prove it:

 

https://www.ktsm.com/local/el-paso-news/utep-study-shows-nfl-officiating-favors-kansas-city-chiefs/?fbclid=IwY2xjawNaskZleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFoSUtYNVk3N3hLSEpjSlZWAR59avYt3S0NOS9SG4S7EVAgJTCZ9vqtjTJj2gl1Xb5My1Q319xJyR7fHuYnww_aem_EDeM-F79fz3T5Iy8uw6SCg

 

Research done by a team at UTEP presents evidence that the Chiefs have benefited from slanted officiating from 2015 to 2023, a time that coincided with their rise as one of the NFL’s most marketable franchises.

 

Published in the journal Financial Review, the study provides “one of the clearest empirical looks at how financial pressures can influence real-time rule enforcement,” the UTEP research team said.

 

“Our findings suggest that when the league’s financial health is at stake, rule enforcement may subtly shift to protect market appeal,” said Spencer Barnes Ph.D., assistant professor of finance in UTEP’s Woody L. Hunt College of Business and the lead author of the study. “The fact that postseason penalties consistently favored one franchise, while similar dynasties showed no such pattern, points to the powerful role of financial incentives in shaping supposedly neutral decisions.”

 

The study shows that during the playoffs, which the research team identified as the NFL’s most commercially valuable period, penalties against opposing defenses of the Chiefs’ offense were significantly more likely to result in first downs, cover more yardage and fall into subjective categories such as roughing the passer or pass interference.

 

17 hours ago, BillytheKid said:

 

The Bills have their own problems right now but thought this was interesting anyways

 

 

According to a study Chiefs receive 45% more roughing the passer penalties and 32% more defensive holding penalties going their way than any other team in the league from 2023-25. 
 

At least that is what this video tells me. 

 

I don't see any of the "steely eyed realists" in this thread conveniently... denying the lily white, virgin NFL could have bias. Ya know, the ones that love to sit Opie down at the kitchen table and tell him how life really is..? 

 

"This study speaks volumes..." That's funny Craig, cause all I keep hearing is crickets...

 

[CodeMonkey]

15 hours ago, ChrisWatson#21 said:

The league will never give up their ability to steer outcomes through officiating.  Their priority isn’t fair games it’s maximizing profits.  Some teams/storylines bring more to the table than others everyone that has watched the NFL for a while knows this by now.  It’s not just Buffalo look at Rodgers and Brees who only got two SB appearances while playing out of the weak NFC.  Look at Cam’s Panthers or Rivers/Tomlinson’s chargers.  The evidence is everywhere.

If I felt that way, there would be no point watching or following the sport. 🤔

Your maximizing profit comment is very true and well stated.  But rigging the outcome of games for the sake of storylines is probably the best way to go from $23 billion in revenue to out of business.  Who is going to spend $1000 or more to take their family to a game where the league has already decided the outcome. That "steer outcome" narrative makes no sense to me.  Agree to disagree I suppose

[LabattBlue]

You know the only difference between todays officiating and that of years gone by?  Frame by frame super slo mo 10 different angles replay.