NFL refs became so annoyed with the bias accusations that they put out a statement saying they are not in the bag for the Kansas City Chiefs:

“There are many things that fans can worry about over a 17-game season, such as coaching decisions, player injuries, the weather and, yes, even close calls on incredible plays made by incredible athletes. But you can rest assured that on every single down, NFL Officials, both on the field and in the replay booth, are doing everything humanly possible to officiate every play correctly.”

To be fair, I don’t know if anyone out there truly thinks that the refs are trying to win the game for the Chiefs. Or maybe they do think that. Maybe they are wearing a tinfoil hat. The real criticism, I think, is more along the lines of Patrick Mahomes getting the benefit of the doubt on calls that could go either way. If he’s one inch out of bounds and someone hits him, out comes the flag. If there’s a borderline roughing the passer call, he gets it. Right or wrong, fair or not, that’s the perception that people have.

It’s the same type of thought that LeBron James gets more whistles than Tyrese Maxey, because one is a superstar and one will be a superstar, but isn’t there just yet. It’s more of an unconscious bias, which sounds like something your employer would make you learn about in the latest training module.

The good thing is that we do have some metrics to show penalty disparity.


We can’t group and parse controversial calls with any sort of data, like the spotting of that 4th down attempt in the AFC Championship Game, but here’s what the Sportradar numbers say about the 2024 regular season:

penalty differential

  • Chiefs: +13 (7th best)
  • Eagles: -19 (29th worst)

team penalties

  • Chiefs: 94 (29th)
  • Eagles: 104 (22nd)

opponent penalties

  • Chiefs: 107 (tied for 16th)
  • Eagles: 85 (31st)

penalty yard differential

  • Chiefs: +20 (16th)
  • Eagles: -99 (24th)

offensive penalties

  • Chiefs: 49 (6th fewest)
  • Eagles: 53 (9th fewest)

defensive penalties

  • Chiefs: 29 (4th fewest)
  • Eagles: 32 (6th fewest)

special teams penalties

  • Chiefs: 16 (7th most)
  • Eagles: 18 (3rd most)

The Chiefs and Eagles weren’t flagged very much in the regular season. Both were in the bottom 10 of penalized teams. But when you look at the differentials, Chiefs opponents were flagged at a middle-of-the-pack number while Eagles opponents committed the second-fewest penalties. That’s the main reason for the -99 yardage total, which also factors in longer yardage infractions, like the fugazi DPI calls from the November road game in Los Angeles.

When you filter the data for the postseason, the Eagles played three games and the Chiefs only played two, but Kansas City is #1 with a +80 yardage differential and tied with the Eagles at a +5 penalty differential, which is third best. The Birds’ yardage differential is +54, which is fourth behind the Chiefs, Chargers, and Vikings. The Chiefs committed 4.5 penalties on average during their two games, which is 10th out of 14 teams.

So yes, the Chiefs’ penalty numbers do look good on paper. They don’t get flagged very much at all, while their opponents are whistled at a league-average number, which is the reason for the top-10 penalty differential. Whether that’s the result of rock-solid discipline or some nefarious collusion, only the zebras know.