Of course the NFL isn’t rigged, but try telling that to your uncle on Facebook who is sick of seeing the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.
Everyone loves a good conspiracy theory.
And as long as NFL games keep ending in ways that get people’s blood boiling, the protestations that the league is rigged will live on.
Most theories that the NFL is rigged revolve, of course, around the Patriots, who appeared in their third Super Bowl in four seasons on Sunday. Take, for instance, the claim that the referees are in New England’s pocket — or operating on a directive from the league on high — because the Patriots are penalized so little.
After the Patriots’ victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Championship Game, people were quick to point out that the Jags were penalized six times for 98 yards. The Patriots? One lonely penalty for 10 yards.
The Patriots weren’t the least penalized team in the league in 2017, however. That distinction belongs to the Carolina Panthers, who averaged 6.18 flags per game, compared with New England’s 6.39.
But there’s no question the Patriots seem to slip by the refs more than most of the league’s teams.
Is it because the NFL is rigged? Or is it simply because the Patriots know the rulebook better than anyone else — and know how to use it to their advantage?
Other reasons conspiracy theorists might claim the NFL doesn’t operate under fair rules include the fact that Vegas makes the point spreads so darn close week in and week out and the fact that the NFL is a shared revenue corporation, so wins and losses don’t matter when the money funnels into the same pot.
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Listen. People who believe the NFL fixes its games aren’t going to change their minds when presented with mere facts. The possibility of the league endangering its product by being in cahoots with the officials, or Vegas, or anybody else is too absurd to give credence to.
But that’s the beauty of conspiracy theories. They give people something to believe in.