The Kansas City Chiefs are the most dominant franchise in the modern NFL, thanks to the enormous talents of star quarterback Patrick Mahomes. However, many fans have felt that Kansas City has also benefited massively from a favorable whistle over the years.
While this has been denied by the referee’s association, [the University of Texas at El Paso conducted a study](https://www.ktsm.com/local/el-paso-news/utep-study-shows-nfl-officiating-favors-kansas-city-chiefs/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter_KTSMtv) to determine whether or not Kansas City has actually been benefiting from a favorable whistle, and the findings are shocking.
The researchers found that penalties called against Chiefs opponents were more likely to be subjective (Roughing the passer, pass interference), covered more yardage, and led to more 1st downs.
Fans reacted to the findings on social media.
“It’s didn’t necessarily require a ‘study’ to tell us this, but yeah… we know,” one person wrote on Twitter.
“And that’s without 2024, the only time (unless Goodell arranges it for Mahomes again, I dread) a team has ever won all 12 one score games they were in,” another person added.
“lol NFL needed a smooth transition after Brady. Same way the NBA pushed Kobe (Kings lose in game 7) after Jordan retired,” one fan wrote.
It’ll be interesting to see if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell addresses the results of this study publicly.