Fans call out NFL over Chiefs-themed Super Bowl LIX officiating crew announcement - "The fix is in," "Rigged game"

Fans are not happy with how the NFL announced the referees for the Super Bowl, especially after the latest accusations surrounding the Chiefs. There have been allegations that the officials and the league are supporting Kansas City, or at least giving them easier penalties as the franchise seeks a history-making third straight championship win.

Talk about such a fix being in reached a crescendo after multiple dubious calls that NFL fans thought were too soft on the Chiefs and disproportionately disadvantaged the Texans when they played each other in the AFC Divisional Round. Particularly egregious were a couple of penalties that the referees gave to Patrick Mahomes for illegal hits, even though they did not look so on replay.

So, it did not help when NFL Insider Adam Schefter posted about the officials who will take charge of this year's Super Bowl on a theme that matched Kansas City's colors. NFL observers took to X/Twitter to accuse the league of colluding with the reigning Super Bowl champions. Here are some of the responses.

Reactions kept coming, with some wondering why the NFL did not consider the color scheme before releasing the lineup. Here are some more comments from the social media platform.

"They really don’t help things when they make stuff look like this look like a Chiefs infographic lmaooo" - wrote one.

"Oh Geez. Just give it to Chiefs already. Spare us some grief. This all looks rigged." - complained another.

"Good god.. Might as well send the Lombardi to KC now. This league is becoming unwatchable with how hard they’re pushing the “New GOAT” and KC storyline." - concurred a third.

Referees' alleged bias towards Chiefs shot down by NFL

While many NFL fans who watched the Chiefs play the Texans thought that it only showed a continuing pattern of referees favoring Kansas City, the NFL came out strongly against that idea. Speaking about the first hit on Patrick Mahomes that was called roughing and extended a drive that would have otherwise ended as a three-and-out, the league's Senior Vice President of Officiating Walt Anderson said,

“When the defenders come in and they end up coming in face-to-face, if there’s contact to the head of the quarterback that’s probably going to be called by the officials. Now it has to be forcible, and one of the things we added this year is if there’s no contact at all to the helmet replay can assist, but on this play, there was contact. There’s one place in the rulebook that it states by rule that when in doubt, officials are to call roughing the passer.”

He also added that even a slight head contact for a runner means that the correct decision was made regarding a second foul on the Chiefs quarterback, which many thought was soft.

“When No. 39 (Texans defender) comes in and the hairline of his helmet strikes the runner who is already on the ground – that’s a foul. Even if replay assist could help in that, when there’s contact like that, that’s not going to be changed by replay assist.” - noted Anderson.

His clarifications are unlikely to assuage fans who feel that Kansas City is being unduly aided in its quest for a Super Bowl three-peat.