Colin Cowherd gives clear verdict on Patrick Mahomes-favored referee controversy: "They leverage and manipulate officials"

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs have advanced to the AFC Championship Game on Saturday, after they defeated the Houston Texans by a 23-14 score and extended their run of postseason victories. But their triumph didn't come without controversy.

Multiple controversial penalty calls happened during the game. While there's no bias to favor any team, in this specific game, the calls went the Chiefs' way. After the game, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans and some of his players expressed their frustration with some of the penalties called.

FOX Sports analyst Colin Cowherd is not surprised by the outcome. With Mahomes being the biggest star in the NFL, Cowherd pointed out that superstars always manipulate the referees to get their wishes.

"This is the way it is. You know, with the Patriots, it was Spygate," Cowherd said. "It's Deflategate. Let's not mention that Brady was actually better, statistically, post-Deflategate. But nobody likes somebody at the mountaintop forever, and so now it's always the refs. The NFL is very protective of quarterbacks, very protective, and most fans think they are overly protective of Patrick.

"But here's the thing: he's the number one asset in the league. Players should not be officiated differently, but neither of those hits were challengeable, and the NFL owners voted against challenging the quarterback hit. They tried with pass interference, [and] it was an absolute disaster. So it's not going to be challengeable, and Mahomes does a remarkable job to sell it. So what Patrick does is what great players do. It could be Messi, Ronaldo, Dwyane Wade, or Mahomes, they leverage and manipulate officials."

What were the controversial calls involving Patrick Mahomes in the Texans-Chiefs game?

Some of the controversial calls related to Kansas City's win involved two late-hit penalties, a no-call on a hip-drop tackle and many missed holdings by their offensive line.

Although only one of the late hit penalties happened on a third down, there has been a recent bias among NFL fans that the Chiefs are favored by the referees. Such controversial calls happening during the playoffs did not favor the optics, even though Kansas City ended with the win by two possessions.