The alleged referee bias toward the Chiefs has some fans acting like they’re searching for Pepe Silvia.
And perhaps the fans’ outcry will push the NFL to adopt more technology-based instruments to properly make judgement calls, like the one that went against the Bills in the AFC Championship game.
One Bills fan posted photos to X that allegedly showed line judge Patrick Holt, who spotted the ball short of the line on the Bills’ fateful fourth-down play Sunday, supporting the Ravens more than a decade ago, along with photos that allegedly indicate he has family ties to Kansas City, Mo.
“Line judge Patrick Holt, who made the awful spot decision for (Dalton) Kincaid & Josh Allen in the Bills-Chiefs game, is a certified Ravens fan who also has family ties in Kansas City,” the post read. “Shocker.”
Fans are upset about the supposed alleged bias toward the Chiefs, especially since several calls have gone Kansas City’s way this postseason — none bigger than Sunday’s judgment call in the 32-29 win.
Holt spotted the ball after Josh Allen attempted to sneak for one yard with the Bills leading, 22-21, early in the fourth quarter and he placed the ball short of the marker.
Video replay upheld the ruling.
CBS announcer Tony Romo, rules analyst Gene Statore and Bills coach Sean McDermott each said they thought Allen had notched the first down.
Due to the NFL’s outdated approach, though, Holt’s placement was what mattered.
Kansas City then took over and scored a go-ahead touchdown before the Bills tied the game. The Chiefs later added their game-winning field goal and stopped the Bills on fourth down before bleeding out the clock to advance to their third straight Super Bowl.
Former NFL rules czar Dean Blandino pushed back against any Chiefs favoritism earlier this week, even noting how his brother believes the NFL made calls to ensure Taylor Swift attended the Super Bowl.
“The Chiefs have gotten the benefit of calls, but good teams make their own breaks. You think about the Patriots,” Blandino said. “My brother, who is convinced that the league is rigged, that is convinced that I signed a (non-disclosure agreement) when I left the league office that I cannot tell anybody that it’s rigged because I was head of officiating. We grew up in the same household, by the way. I said, ‘Listen, there’s no conspiracy. The officials, there’s too many variables, there’s too much going on.’ To me, it’s the hardest sport — when you think about football with seven different officials, to say, ‘OK, I’m gonna rig this game,’ or the game is rigged from the league office down. The officials are just trying to get it right.”
The easy way for the NFL to avoid such issues would be to implement tracking technology that can aid in those calls, the same way tennis does.
NFL chief football administrative officer Dawn Aponte told the Sports Business Journal last March that the league had been testing “optical tracking technology” that could replace human judgment.
MetLife Stadium and SoFi Stadium were two stadiums slated to host testing.
A chip has already been placed inside the football, but that is used for Next Gen Stats.
“Line to gain is probably the one that we’re closest to implementing,” Aponte told the outlet, “and the way that we test it is that we have all the actual data that will then support what we’re getting from the optical tracking data that’s being brought in.”
