Was Patrick Mahomes failed by the referees in Super Bowl LIX?

Duty of care

Patrick Mahomes didn’t play well in Super Bowl LIX. In part due to his own bad performance, in part due to some failings by his offensive line. All season, there have been conspiracy theories that Mahomes and the Chiefs have been favored by referees, in Super Bowl LIX, that was turned on its head.

Dangerous play

Late in the game, with the result put to bed, Mahomes dropped back attempting a deep shot to at least give his team a chance to score some points. Eagles defensive tackle Milton Williams collapsed the pocket and strip-sacked Mahomes in another display of Philadelphia’s dominance. Shortly after Williams’ tackle, Jalen Carter hit Mahomes in the head with both hands.

No call

There was no flag thrown for this hit, instead an unsportsmanlike penalty was called against Milton Williams for his celebration. The result would have been the same, 15 yards against the Eagles as the hit came after Mahomes had fumbled, but considering there was no flag against Carter, it begs the question, did the refs fail Mahomes?

Lack of safety

Given the NFL’s attempts to ensure the safety of their players in recent times, the refs no-call on Jalen Carter’s hit could be viewed as dangerous. Carter presumably didn’t attempt to injure his opposing quarterback, but the hit was still dangerous and wasn’t picked up on by the officials.

Conspiracy put to bed

The 40-22 scoreline ends any discussion over the refs favoring the Chiefs, but it opens the door to us wondering the NFL officials were aware of the perception and made sure to call as balanced a game as possible.

Did they go too far?

Chiefs wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins even mentioned the refs post-game, saying, “I saw a lot of things in the media about the refs. There was a lot of touchy calls [against the Chiefs]. Are y’all gonna report that? Are y’all gonna talk about the refs now?” Per The Washington Post.