The Kansas City Chiefs postseason run has highlighted a significant problem with the officiating around the NFL. And interestingly, one of the first people to call this out, Hall of Fame quarterback turned ESPN NFL broadcaster Troy Aikman.
During the Chiefs’ Divisional Round matchup between the Chiefs and the Houston Texans, Aikman made it a point to call out the officiating in the game on several occasions while calling the game on ESPN after the Texans were called for numerous flags on hits to Patrick Mahomes.
Multiple calls were also called into question in the AFC Championship Game against the Buffalo Bills, which only highlighted Aikman’s complaints.
The Chiefs postseason run has even led to football fans sharing conspiracies that the league has rigged games throughout their run to potentially help them achieve history.
No team in NFL history has ever won three straight Super Bowl championships, which the Chiefs of course are on the verge of doing should they get past the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX.
Aikman hasn’t gone as far to say that there is a conspiracy at hand in the NFL in favor of the Chiefs. But during a conversation with Jimmy Traina of Sports Illustrated, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback did further say that the NFL has an officiating problem that needs to be fixed quickly.
“The game has not become less controversial. It’s become more controversial. But then I just think we are at a point, and this is tipped a little bit because the league is partners with a number of these gambling services. So here you are promoting gambling, people are gambling more than they have ever before and those types of calls, there’s a lot at stake regardless, but especially when you’re considering there’s a lot of money that’s changing hands with these calls as well.
“So, I think that we owe it to the fans that we get it right, and I think that we are at a point and time where we can. We can get it more right. That was my position and just trying to lean on the NFL and say, ‘Hey, we gotta fix this. We gotta address this in the offseason.’”
With as much that is on the line throughout the postseason for every team, Aikman does raise a good point when he brings up how critical each missed call can be in the result of any game.
Hopefully for everybody, Super Bowl LIX runs smoothly without any overly incorrect calls and we have a competitive game between two of the best teams in football.
