Let’s talk about the Super Bowl being rigged (it’s not so stop)
By Josh Hill
Whenever the New England Patriots do something inexplicable, it’s assumed that the game has been rigged in their favor.
When the Philadelphia Eagles were making their run to the Super Bowl, Amazon was running out of dog masks. The reason being, fans were buying out the masks so they could wear them around to play up the idea that the team was an underdog in every game they played this postseason.
From a consumer standpoint, this was significant in that it infringed on territory that was already well established. One reason we might be able to assume that Amazon always has tinfoil in stock is that it always needs to have it for conspiracy theorists.
Every time something positive happens to the New England Patriots, the rallying cry is always the same. People are convinced that the officials — or the Illuminati — are in on the fix to help favor the Patriots in the final results. There’s been plenty of evidence to suggest this, but much in the same way there’s evidence to suggest things like life in the universe. There’s a good chance that the way the Patriots are officiated has changed over the years, but the idea that they get preferential treatment is as misguided as it gets.
Because it’s public knowledge, much in the same way the Zapruder Film is out there, here are some examples of why people could think that the fix is in.
Just this year, the Patriots have been on the right end of some questionable calls. Against the Jets, the official overturned a touchdown catch by Austin Seferian-Jenkins that would have given New York a win over New England. Ditto for a reversed touchdown catch for Kelvin Benjamin that seemed impossible to overturn. Of course, there’s the Jesse James catch that was overturned which ended up being the difference between New England securing the AFC’s No. 1 seed or having to potentially go on the road in the AFC Championship Game.
In that AFC Championship Game, fans pointed to a premature whistle that negated a defensive touchdown for Jacksonville that would have all but sealed the Patriots fate.
All of those games — every single one — the Patriots won thanks to bad calls by officials. Instead of thinking that means the fix is in, perhaps this is a commentary on how much officiating needs to improve. It’s horrible optics that New England has benefited from these calls, but that hardly means the games are rigged. Roger Goodell has done nothing but try to make it his legacy to legally bury the Patriots for everything under the sun, so the idea that he’d allow the biggest game of the season to be rigged is a sign that you maybe need to put the Elmer’s School Glue down and slide it to the other side of the table.