NFL refs bail out Chiefs again with horrendous missed PI call vs. Falcons

The Kansas City Chiefs had a slim lead late in the fourth quarter of their "Sunday Night Football" game against the Atlanta Falcons — and the refs inserted themselves once again to tip the field.

Atlanta was on the doorstep of the endzone and decided to go for it on fourth down to attempt to overtake Kansas City's five point lead.

Quarterback Kirk Cousins saw his target, tight end Kyle Pitts, in the back of the endzone and slung it that direction. The ball looked like it was on target but a Chiefs defender, not facing the ball, draped himself all over Pitts as he tried to reel in the catch.

No flag was thrown on the play and the Chiefs regained possession with the lead on the turnover on downs.

Is the NFL assisting the darling Chiefs yet again this season?

It's easy to blame the refs and put on our football-shaped tin foil hats to cry "conspiracy" whenever a popular and successful team gets a beneficial call. However, the pattern with Kansas City and winning close games not with big plays but with consequential calls or no calls is getting quite apparent and frustrating.

In Week 2, Kansas City seemingly was bailed out by the officials when a soft (yet by the book) pass interference flag was thrown in the final minute of its game against the Cincinnati Bengals. That set up the Chiefs to kick the game-winning field goal when before that it was out of range and on fourth down.

Despite the rough no call for Atlanta, the Falcons got one last shot at toppling the Chiefs in the final minute of regulation but ultimately Kansas City stopped them on fourth and inches just over midfield, able to kneel out the 22-17 win.

So, you can view it one of two ways: Atlanta was screwed on the missed call that would've likely resulted in a touchdown, forcing quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City to have to drive down the field to win the game — or the no call didn't matter because Atlanta's defense stepped up and gave the offense one last shot at victory, which it blew.