Myth busted: Viral Patrick Mahomes interception claim thoroughly debunked

After the Week 2 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals, there has been a ton of discussion about the referees playing in favor of Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. This all really stems from a defensive pass interference call that resulted in the Chiefs converting a fourth and long and being place in field goal range to win the game.

Although the call was controversial, the refs got it right. The defender absolutely gets there early and prohibits the wide receiver from making a play. Take a look:

But it hasn't stopped fans from putting together a list of statistics that back up the idea that the refs are always officiating in favor of Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. Some of these stats have gone viral, with the most viral one being a tweet from @SneakyJoeSports on X/Twitter.

The tweet is correct. The stat is correct. But there is a lot more context that should be included in this than what the original post indicates. Although the post is correct, it doesn't tell the entire story.

Let's debunk this myth, shall we?

Myth busted: Viral Patrick Mahomes interception claim thoroughly debunked

User @BillBarnwell on Twitter/X was the one that took the deep dive into this stat. Check out the entire thread of posts here.

The first thing to mention is that Mahomes leads the league in pass attempts over that time period. So for him to lead the league in another passing statistic would make sense. Barnwell mentions that Mahomes leads the league in plays of exactly 13 yards and total yards on slant routes. This doesn't mean Mahomes has the 13 yard play down to a science or that he throws the best slant ball in the league. It's just a matter of cherry-picking stats based on Mahomes incredible volume of throws.

It's also important to note that the real number is 16 interceptions called back, not 17. Matthew Judon was called for unnecessary roughness on the return of an interception. The Ravens still took possession of the ball.

The next thing to look at is how many of these interceptions being called back were called back for an offsides penalty. When offsides is called, the quarterback often takes a shot play that they normally wouldn't, resulting in a lot of interceptions called back. Offsides penalties account for exactly half (8/16) of Mahomes' interceptions being called back.

Mahomes also leads the NFL in touchdowns called back by penalty in that span. He's had 15 touchdowns called back because of a referee's decision in the same time span.

So, no, this stat doesn't really prove that the officials are working to make sure Mahomes and the Chiefs win. There may be more compelling evidence to support these claims out there, but this specific stat doesn't prove anything.