Are the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL Officials in Cahoots?

A Breakdown of Penalties in Chiefs Games

Nearly every NFL fan this season has had the thought that the Kansas City Chiefs are getting help from the officials. It seems like every game, a magical call goes their way—one that should have never been made in the first place. Roger Goodell dismissed the claim of biased officiating as a “ridiculous theory for anyone who might take it seriously.”

But are the Chiefs really getting special treatment? Is Goodell right? And is Patrick Mahomes a whiny little baby on the field? While I firmly believe the answer to the last question is a resounding yes, let’s dive into the data to see if we can answer the other two.

We can break it down into a few categories to capture the full picture: overall penalties, second half penalties, and late down penalties (3rd and 4th down). The table below provides a detailed breakdown for each team.

As we see from the table, while the Chiefs rank 7th in Net Penalties, they are only 15th and 16th in Net Penalty Yards and Opponent Penalties, respectively. These rankings don’t exactly scream "unfair advantage." In fact, if we take a more granular look at the other two categories, they rank 16th or worse across the board.

One unexpected takeaway from this research? It’s no wonder the Steelers overachieved this year—they got every call.

I’ll be honest: I wanted the accusations of bias to be true. I wanted more fuel for my hatred of the Chiefs. But the data is clear. All we can do now is hope the Eagles put an end to this nightmarish dynasty.