Ball Don’t Lie: 3 terrible calls from 2024-25 NFL season that prove Chiefs bias is misplaced

The Kansas City Chiefs are in New Orleans this week in search of a third straight Super Bowl victory. It has been a historic run for Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, and this endlessly talented Chiefs roster. When it comes to NFL dynasties, Kansas City is quickly gaining ground on Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and the Patriots. That once felt impossible, but folks... it's happening.

One would think we'd be able to have a normal, respectful conversation about the Chiefs the fourth time around. Mahomes has three rings and a few Super Bowl MVP trophies sitting on his shelf at home. This Chiefs team has proven its legitimacy as a contender time and time again. This isn't a flash in the pan or a product of luck, much less some grand conspiracy.

That said, there is a certain burden inherent to being the Kansas City Chiefs. If you win often enough, fans tend to get irritated, restless, even infuriated. Eventually, that morphs into conspiracy — generally one involving the refs. We've seen it with every great team and great player across all major sports. You think Patrick Mahomes' soft whistle is a unique phenomenon. Just look at how many free throws Joel Embiid or Giannis Antetokounmpo get in the NBA. Or think back to the refs narrative around Brady's Patriots. This is how great players are treated — with accusations of unfair whistles.

It's mostly nonsense. The numbers do bare out a distinct advantage in penalty calls over the Chiefs' last four postseasons, but what if... Kansas City just doesn't commit as many penalties as other teams? What if the Chiefs' defense is more disciplined? Less prone to desperately diving at the quarterback or errantly grabbing at wide receivers, which tends to happen when a team is operating at a talent deficiency. Just saying.

The Chiefs absolutely get some wild and unfortunate (for the other team) whistles, but it's a two-way street. NFL refs have an impossible job and are prone to errors in judgement. Every team gets screwed by a rotten call eventually.

Here's the proof, detailing a few of the worst calls in the NFL this season, none of which involve the Chiefs even tangentially.

Patrick Mahomes isn't the only QB getting questionable roughing the passer calls

If there's one play that is sure to rile up the broader NFL fandom, it's Patrick Mahomes taking a sorta late, sorta not hit at the end of a play and getting a fresh set of downs via roughing the passer. Mahomes does have a... unique gift for selling contact, and he tends to get a bit more benefit of the doubt to his status as the literal greatest quarterback of his generation (that's par for the course, see Brady, etc.).

That said, Mahomes isn't the only QB getting these soft calls at opportune moments. Just look back to Week 15, when the Atlanta Falcons went on the road to battle the Las Vegas Raiders. It was a neck-and-neck affair, which meant the Raiders had a legitimate opportunity to add to their meager win total.

Las Vegas could've made a serious push with a three-and-out stop prior to the two-minute warning. The Raiders' defense dug its heels in and got it — until a late roughing the passer was called against Robert Spillane.

Spillane has momentum toward Cousins and is already midair when the pass is released. It's a brutal call, right or wrong, and it feels entirely unavoidable without Spillane just completely laying off the gas pedal. If that was Mahomes getting knocked on the helmet, the discourse cycle would've been unbearable.

Justin Fields slid into a defender and got the penalty call in his favor

Mahomes has somewhat mastered the art of the run-and-slide. He's one of the most deceptive athletes in the NFL, capable of uncorking unexpected and explosive runs at a moment's notice. His ability to evade pressure in the backfield and create with his legs in matched by few at his position.

That naturally leads to bang-bang moments where Mahomes slides into a crowd, gets knocked around a bit, and gets rewarded with a lame whistle. He is not alone, though.

Here's an example from mid-December, when Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields slid into a stationary Philadelphia Eagles defender... and was rewarded with an inexplicable 15-yard penalty.

Quite literally, what else can Reed Blankenship do there? Pittsburgh, and other teams with running quarterbacks, are especially likely to pick up a few penalties of this nature eventually. It's the way of life for NFL refs, who are often tasked with impossible interpretations of an innately flawed rulebook.

Watch Dak Prescott get 15 yards for being tackled normally

Let us venture all the way back to Week 3 of the NFL season, when dreams weren't dead yet for the Dallas Cowboys. In a tightly contested affair against the Baltimore Ravens — one that featured no shortage of ref controversy — the worst call came in the form of a roughing the passer against Baltimore's Odafe Oweh.

Dak Prescott gets hit as he's throwing, which is completely legal. With Oweh having already laid a (legal) hit on Prescott's ribcage, the two naturally fall to the ground together. The argument is that Oweh drove Prescott into the ground unnecessarily, but please point out at which point Oweh could have abandoned his descent. If you drive through a player's chest (legally), you will probably hit the ground with him. That's football.

The Cowboys are not exactly immune to ref discourse of their own, but the point still stands. All these frustrating variations on roughing the passer and pass interference, which can feel so lopsidedly in favor of Kansas City, are happening everywhere, every week.