Death, taxes, and fans accusing the NFL refs of already “rigging” a game in favor of Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs.
Regardless of which officiating crew was assigned to the Chiefs-Buffalo Bills AFC Championship Game on Sunday, you just knew that non-KC fans were going to be unhappy one way or another.
On Monday, the NFL announced that Clete Blakeman and his crew were assigned duties for the AFC Championship Game. The NFL refs for the NFC title game between the Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles will be Shawn Hochuli’s crew.
The referee assignments for the AFC and NFC Championships are set! pic.twitter.com/NxIDuy8pKk
— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) January 20, 2025
Per The Athletic’s Mike Sando, Patrick Mahomes is 6-5 in games officiated by Blakeman. And you can probably guess how fans reacted to the ref assignments for conference championship weekend:
“The chiefs and refs vs the world,” one fan said.
The chiefs and refs vs the world
— Robert Clark III (@ItsTheeBobbyC) January 20, 2025
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“Yes!!! Blakeman will throw lots of flags on the Bills on Sunday! Guaranteed win for the Chiefs. My wire xfer has also been sent to the refs! Go Chiefs!!!,” wrote one fan.
Yes!!! Blakeman will throw lots of flags on the Bills on Sunday! Guaranteed win for the Chiefs. My wire xfer has also been sent to the refs! Go Chiefs!!!
— Jon (@JDuval0488) January 20, 2025
“Why do they keep giving the chiefs Clete Blakeman lol they aren’t even trying to hide it now,” asked another.
Why do they keep giving the chiefs Clete Blakeman lol they aren’t even trying to hide it now
— Walt “Coffee and Pie” Abernathy (@waltabernathy) January 20, 2025
“CHIEFS to the superbowl,” a fan said.
CHIEFS to the superbowl pic.twitter.com/qTLzVugdQk
— AO5 (@AO_teqz5) January 20, 2025
“And it’s chiefs and the refs vs the bills,” said another.
And it’s chiefs and the refs vs the bills
— Anthony (@GoBirds1197) January 20, 2025
Even if you hate the defending Super Bowl champions, you shouldn’t be so quick to go after the NFL refs here. A 6-5 mark is hardly special, and let’s not forget that Blakeman officiated the 2018 AFC title game between the Chiefs and New England Patriots that was marred by questionable calls against both teams.
The last Chiefs game officiated by Blakeman was Christmas Day 2023, when the Las Vegas Raiders stunned KC 20-14. So make of that as you will.
NFL Refs Will Be Under The Microscope Sunday
That all said, the Chiefs definitely benefited from several questionable calls by the officials in the Divisional Round against the Houston Texans. That included two terrible “Roughing the Passer” calls drawn by Mahomes, and a missed penalty on Bryan Cook for his hip-drop tackle on Dalton Schultz.
So fans will be paying extra careful attention toward Blakeman and his crew to see if Mahomes and company once again benefit from controversial officiating.
