Patrick Mahomes had this to say about the referees that call his games

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes disagreed with some Houston Texans' defender's beliefs that he gets favorable calls from NFL officials. Following the Chiefs' 23-14 win over the Texans in the Divisional Round in which Texans' defenders were penalized twice for hits on Mahomes, the officials drew some ire.

"We knew it was going to be us against the refs going into this game," Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr., who was penalized for roughing the passer, said after the loss. "Knowing that going into this game, what we were up against, we can't make the mistakes that we made."

Will Anderson: “We knew it was going to be us versus the refs going into this game.” pic.twitter.com/FReVbYspl5
— Will Kunkel (@WillKunkelFOX) January 19, 2025

Mahomes, though, doesn't buy into that. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday ahead of their fourth meeting in five postseasons with the Buffalo Bills, the two-time defending Super Bowl MVP said the referees are out there doing their best to call a fair game.

"I don't feel that way. At the end of the day, the referees are doing their best to call the game as fair and as proper as they possibly can," he said. "All you can do is go out there and play the game that you love as hard as you can and live with the results."

Patrick Mahomes speaks on the discussion surrounding the refereeing of Chiefs' games 👀 pic.twitter.com/4Vkvu93t4e
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 22, 2025

It's understandable that some players, and certainly some fans, might feel this way about the referees favoring Kansas City. In the Chiefs' last 11 playoff games, they've been penalized 36 times compared to 66 times for their opponents. This sort of argument always happens any time a team is in the midst of a dynasty. During the 20 years of the New England Patriots dynasty, fans were saying the same thing about Tom Brady.

Is it possible the refs subconsciously want to protect the league's best players and teams? Sure. Is it more likely that the better a team is the more disciplined they become, thus committing less penalties? Seems that way.

In any case, every football fan will be waiting for the moment they can shout at the TV on Sunday and say "only Patrick Mahomes gets that call!" when he and the Chiefs play the Bills for a trip to the Super Bowl. The AFC Championship is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 on Sunday and will be broadcast on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus.