MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports
You get the feeling that someone knows who’s going to win the big game on Sunday, but it sure isn’t us, which, of course, is the point. Gotta keep the gambling partners happy, you know?
Honestly, you have to figure Kansas City will win, but hope, unless you’re from Kansas City, that the Eagles win. That is, of course, unless you’ve been beaten up by Iggles fans at the Vet or the Linc. And, if you have, it’s a small world …
Perception is reality, whether it is or not. And the perception is the Chiefs will win because … that’s just the way it’s going to be, whether we like it or not. Because we’re going to watch next year anyway.
I happened across an article the other day that said the Chiefs have assumed the Evil Empire role in the NFL, replacing the New England Patriots, yet nobody knows why.
There is likely no fair-and-square reason as to why because on their own merits the Chiefs seem to be quite likable. It’s Kansas City for God’s sake, not Dallas or New York. Yet the NFL seemingly enabling them with timely penalty flags out of the blue at the most crucial times of games, is a widely-held perception. And now, after nearly three years of It, Chiefs players – namely quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce – play to that and work it.
Kelce freely taunts his opponent without even a reprimand after a mere catch, behavior that warrants a penalty flag for nearly every other player. Mahomes, as good as he is, now freely plays for flags in a ha-ha sense, much as Tom Brady did, and opposing players, particularly defenders who are flagged for tackling Mahomes inbounds when he stops short just near the sideline, are beyond annoyed by it.
It’s not fair because it doesn’t work both ways, as any other QB will tell you.
Commissioner Roger Goodell says any talk of NFL officials favoring the Chiefs is preposterous.
Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman, an indirect representative of the NFL as the analyst for Monday Night Football, received a lot of attention for questioning the officiating and the league on-air in regard to roughing-the-passer penalties, as well as calling out Mahomes for flopping.
Earlier this week, Aikman further expounded, saying, “I know the officials have a tough job. The scrutiny that they’re under, as we’ve gotten more advanced with instant replay, those guys, it seems, have become more and more scrutinized.
“And the game has not become less controversial. It’s become more controversial. But then I just think we are at a point, and this is tipped a little bit because the league is partners with a number of these gambling services. So here you are promoting gambling, people are gambling more than they have ever before and those types of calls, there’s a lot at stake regardless, but especially when you’re considering there’s a lot of money that’s changing hands with these calls as well.
“So, I think that we owe it to the fans that we get it right, and I think that we are at a point and time where we can. We can get it more right. That was my position and just trying to lean on the NFL and say, ‘Hey, we gotta fix this. We gotta address this in the offseason.’”
Essentially, what most fans would like to see is for this to be addressed this week before the big game, because anymore, using, for instance, the lights going out the last time this game was played in New Orleans, it’s just become too difficult to trust what we see on any given Sunday.
Perception is reality because the NFL creates the perception; and, as Aikman says, “… the game has not become less controversial. It’s become more controversial.”
Forget what Goodell and the NFL say – they like it this way.
If they didn’t, it wouldn’t be this way.
Pitchers and catchers report in five days.
Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @MikeBurkeMDT