THE NFL has revealed the referee crew for the AFC Championship Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
However, fans think the league will take part in another “rigging” after the Kansas City Chiefs were on the right side of two controversial calls in their Divisional Round win over the Houston Texans.
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On Monday, the NFL announced the referee assignments for the 2025 conference championship games.
Veteran ref Clete Blakeman will officiate the Chiefs-Bills showdown at Arrowhead in Kansas City.
He has led the officiating crew for 15 prior postseason games, including five conference championship contests.
Fans, however, believe that Blakeman and the NFL will favor the Chiefs this week.
“The Chiefs and refs vs. the world,” one wrote.
“Ready for a classic ref rigging for the Chiefs,” another said.
“The game is rigged for Mahomes,” a third added.
The fan’s suspicions come after two controversial decisions from lead official Clay Martin that benefited Kansas City in their win over Houston.
During the first quarter, Texans star defensive end Will Anderson Jr. was hit with a roughing of the passer penalty as the refs said he struck Mahomes in a helmet-to-helmet contact hit.
However, fans seemed to believe that there wasn’t enough contact to warrant a penalty.
The Chiefs would go on to kick a field goal in that same drive.
And in the third quarter, Houston linebacker Henry To’oTo’o was penalized for hitting Mahomes when he was down on the ground after scrambling and gaining a few years.
However, Mahomes performed a late slide and it appeared To’oTo’o collided with a teammate and made incidental contact with the superstar quarterback.
Even ESPN announcer Troy Aikman took issue with the call, yelling, “Oh come on!”
Conference championship schedule
NFC Championship Game
Washington Commanders at Philadelphia Eagles (Fox)
Sunday 26 January, 3 pm ET
AFC Championship Game
Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs (CBS)
Sunday 26 January, 6.30 pm ET
Still, NFL senior vice president of officiating Walt Anderson appeared on NFL Network’s NFL Gameday on Sunday and agreed with both calls.
It has been revealed by The Athletic’s Mike Sando that the Chiefs have a 6-5 record all-time with Blakeman as their lead official.
He led the referee crew when Kansas City lost to the Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas Day during the 2023 campaign.
The Chiefs are currently riding on an eight-game winning streak in the playoffs.
They have won the last two Super Bowl titles and are eyeing history as the league’s first team to three-peat.