Alright, NFL fans, buckle up, because we’ve got another dose of “Officiating Controversy Theater”—and this time, it’s sending Buffalo Bills fans into full-blown conspiracy mode. The internet is ablaze after down judge “Patrick Holt” ruled that “Josh Allen was short” on a crucial fourth-down conversion in the AFC Championship Game against the Chiefs. And, as you might have guessed, that call just “so happened” to swing momentum in favor of Kansas City.
Now, if you’ve been following the Chiefs’ playoff run, you know this isn’t the first time fans have accused the NFL of playing favorites with Patrick Mahomes & Co. But this one? This one’s hitting Bills Mafia especially hard. Why? Because “internet sleuths” claim they’ve dug up some “interesting” details about the ref behind the call—and let’s just say it’s adding “fuel to the fire”.
Early in the fourth quarter, with the Bills desperately clinging to a one-point lead, “Allen attempted a quarterback sneak”—a textbook “tush-push”—that looked to all the world like a first down. Even CBS analyst “Gene Steratore”, a former NFL official himself, was convinced the Bills had converted, saying Allen was ahead by ““a third of the football.”” But Patrick Holt saw it differently.
Ruling Allen short meant “Kansas City took over possession”, and from there, they did what they do best—”Mahomes orchestrated another clutch drive, the Chiefs took the lead, and the Bills never recovered”. Final score: “Chiefs 27, Bills 24.”
As you might expect, Bills fans were “furious”. “Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy—who had $1 million riding on Buffalo winning the Super Bowl—called it straight-up “cheating.”” And plenty of others weren’t far behind, flooding social media with the now-infamous hashtag: “#NFLRigged”.
This is where things get “really” interesting. A deep dive into “Holt’s old Facebook posts” allegedly revealed that he:
“Has family ties to Kansas City”
“Is a die-hard Baltimore Ravens fan”
Now, you don’t need to be a conspiracy theorist to raise an eyebrow at that. Think about it: The “Bills had just knocked the Ravens out of the playoffs” the week before. If Holt has any lingering resentment over that loss—well, let’s just say he’s got a “motive”.
Social media detectives quickly unearthed posts showing Holt repping Ravens gear, including a “2010 picture of him in a Ravens beanie”, plus an old meme taking shots at the Steelers. Harmless fandom? Maybe. But when you’re making a “game-changing call in a championship game”, it’s easy to see why fans are calling foul.
And this isn’t the first time people have raised questions about officiating benefiting Kansas City this season. Just one week prior, “Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans” openly complained about his team being “against everybody” after two highly questionable roughing-the-passer calls on Mahomes helped the Chiefs advance. And let’s not forget “last year’s AFC Championship Game”, where a series of “head-scratching calls” against the Bengals led to more allegations of favoritism.
It all raises the question: “Is the NFL’s golden boy Mahomes getting a little extra help along the way?” Fans certainly seem to think so.
For Buffalo, this loss “stings”. Allen and the Bills were “one game away from their first Super Bowl appearance in 30 years”, and now, once again, they’re watching from home while the Chiefs march on. But for NFL fans in general, the bigger issue looms:
If officiating continues to dominate headlines “instead of the games themselves”, how long before people stop taking the league seriously?
