The NFL has once again come under fire for allegedly providing the Kansas City Chiefs with preferential treatment.
Ahead of Sunday’s AFC West clash between the Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders, The Ringer’s Warren Sharp noted that the head of the officiating crew tasked with overseeing the game is Adrian Hill – who’s developed a reputation for favoring quarterbacks with penalty calls.
“This game was circled by the NFL, and you want to know what their reaction was? It was to put Adrian Hill as referee on this game when the time came,” Sharp said. “You know what Adrian Hill leads the NFL in? Roughing-the-passer penalties. Yup, he’s No. 1. He’s also No. 1 in neutral-zone penalties on the pass rush. He’s also No. 2 in overall defensive penalties.”
- Rob Gronkowski explains why Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift ‘should have a kid’
- Desmond Ridder shows true colors after being handed career lifeline by Las Vegas Raiders
Sharp argued that the decision to assign Hill the contest should come as no surprise considering Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce took a verbal shot at Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes during the offseason. In an appearance on Maxx Crosby’s ‘The Rush Podcast,’ the 46-year-old revealed that his team wanted to physically bully the signal-caller last season – similar to how the 1980s Detroit Pistons handled Michael Jordan during his prime.
“We’ve got what I’m calling now, from now on as long as I’m here, the Patrick Mahomes rules,” Pierce said at the time. “You remember when Jordan was going through it with the Pistons, all those guys in the ’80s before he became Michael Jordan, Air Jordan, the Pistons used to whip his —.
“Any time he came to the hole – elbows, feeling him, love taps. We’re in his head, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, I’m touching you. So I showed my guys Jordan getting his — whooped.”
Follow us on Xfor the best and latest in sports news
Antonio Pierce said that the Raiders tried to physically bully Patrick Mahomes last season (
Getty Images)
This isn’t the first time that someone has accused the Chiefs of apparent favoritism. Last month, former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski insisted that Kansas City receives far more beneficial penalty calls than the New England Patriots dynasty did over the last two decades.
“Yeah, the Chiefs get way more calls than the Patriots. I don’t even remember getting calls,” he said on the ‘Up & Adams’ podcast. “Specifically for myself, I didn’t get any calls, maybe as a team, I don’t know … Tom might have gotten some calls, but for myself, I used to get pounded, guys used to jump on my back and nothing would be called.”
Dallas Cowboys star linebacker Micah Parsons expressed a similar sentiment when analyzing the Chiefs’ 26-25 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2. “That game was pretty crazy…a lot of calls went both ways,” he said on ‘The Edge.’
“I felt like the refs did favor the Chiefs a little bit more. But at the end of the day, you can’t put the game in the refs’ hands.”
The stats, however, paint a different picture. According to Team Rankings, the Chiefs currently rank 15th in team opponent penalties per game (6.8) and seventh in team penalties per game (5.2).
Leave a Reply