With every penalty that was called last week against the Baltimore Ravens, some fans of other NFL teams were getting more angry, saying the Chiefs get special treatment from the game officials.
The complaints continued throughout the Chiefs’ 27-20 win in the NFL Kickoff Game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, and afterward.
If you’re a Chiefs fan on social media, you’ve likely seen these sentiments or something similar.
On the latest episode of the New Heights podcast, the Kelce brothers talked about the illegal formation penalties called against the Ravens.
“I think that it just opened up more criticism of the Chiefs getting favorable calls from the officials,” Jason Kelce said.
He then poked fun at brother Travis, the Chiefs’ tight end, by asking: “Do you have anything to say to that? I mean, you won a Super Bowl on it.”
That was a clear reference to Super Bowl LVII, which the Chiefs won over the Eagles and Jason Kelce. That included a late penalty on Philly .
“Yeah, I mean, keep ‘em coming, refs,” Travis Kelce quipped. “That’s why we (mess) with you guys right now, man, you guys are making sure that ...”
Kelce didn’t finish the thought, but he added that the idea of the Chiefs getting more calls is ludicrous.
“I just don’t get it,” Travis Kelce said. “I think if you look at the actual penalties that are being called, we have literally been, what is it, the point of emphasis.”
The Kelces then mentioned how Chiefs tackle Jawaan Taylor seemed to be flagged frequently during the 2023 season.
“The reason they’re calling this is because of Jawaan Taylor this year and guys that were doing this a lot last year,” Jason Kelce said. “Just the reality of it, like Jawaan was like, he got called for it a lot last year.”
Jason Kelce added that it’s tough for officials on the sideline to tell when a player on either side of the ball moves slightly early.
“Questioning officials started once challenging became a thing and now it’s like, officials have this expectation to get calls right 100% of the time,” he said. “Then it got taken to another level with the legalization of gambling. It is toxic to the point of people (being upset).
“The Ravens had plenty of opportunities to win the game. And the reality is the penalty differential of yardage was like 10 yards over the whole game, like you guys had 47 yards of penalties. They had like 60 something. Yeah, you had a holding penalty. It was six penalties (for) you guys, seven for the Ravens. The officials did not make the difference in that game. The Ravens had multiple chances at the end of it to win the game.”
Yep, Travis Kelce was called for holding in last week’s game. Baltimore was penalized seven times for 64 yards, while the Chiefs had 45 penalty yards on six flags.
This is an interesting look at the penalties that have been called since quarterback Patrick Mahomes became the Chiefs’ starter.
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