Ex-NFL boss responds to claims refs ‘cheating’ to help Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs

Former NFL head of refereeing Dean Blandino has poured cold water on claims and the have been given a helping hand to reach the . Chiefs secured a 32-29 victory over Buffalo Bills on Sunday to reach the showpiece match following .

Andy Reid’s team were 22-21 behind ahead of the fourth quarter but rallied to win the clash at Arrowhead Stadium.

And they have reached the Super Bowl for the third year in a row after claiming silverware in 2023 and 2024.

Fans were angry with a host of decisions they felt had proved costly to Buffalo Bills. One incident saw Xavier Worthy’s catch marked as complete even though there was doubt over whether the Chiefs wide receiver was in control of the ball before it hit the ground.

Main match referee Clete Blakeman was then overruled on the fourth down by an official standing in the Chiefs area at the side of the pitch.

Chiefs also avoided sanctions after they were present in the neutral zone on the fourth down play, an occurrence that would typically be punished with a loss of five yards.

Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen was later deemed to have come up short of the first down line, despite replays suggesting otherwise.

There were other decisions that were questioned throughout the game, with Chiefs being allowed to continue into the two-minute warning zone after the clock had timed out earlier in the match.

that the NFL is rigged post-game while Skip Bayless last week claimed Mahomes is “protected by the referees” to “make sure Taylor Swift makes it to New Orleans for the Super Bowl” for the TV ratings.

But Blandino rubbished claims that the errors had been part of a wider conspiracy as he told : “If there’s a room somewhere in the NFL offices where they were writing the script, they never invited me – and I was the head of officiating. I feel like I’d be a pretty important contributor to that.”

The 53-year-old then vowed that it would be impossible for a team of officials to conspire as he explained: “Someone somewhere would slip up and it would get out.”

He then added: “Do teams get breaks at times? They do. And not every call is right. And sometimes that happens.”

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott was asked for his thoughts on Allen being denied a first down after Sunday’s match.

And he stated: “I thought he had it. Just short of the line was actually the first down. What it looked like to me, when it was sitting next to me, was the first down. It looked like he got to it. That’s all I can say.”

Chiefs will take on Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on Sunday, February 9, with the showdown having all the ingredients to be one of the best Super Bowls in the history of the sport.