You’ve all seen the video by now. Some of you have likely seen it multiple times. But for the sake of driving home the point and bringing everyone up to speed, let’s see it one more time.
On Sunday night, Patrick Mahomes scored a rushing touchdown against the Lions. Shortly after crossing the goal line, he was briefly and lightly contacted by Detroit’s Brian Branch. Mahomes then turned to Branch, spun the ball at his feet, pointed at him, brushed his chest, and flexed before running off the field.
Mahomes’s actions constituted a clear taunting violation, but no foul was called.
However, as bad as that was, it looks even worse three days later with the arrival of a new video showing Seattle’s Jaxson Smith-Njigba getting flagged for taunting on a play that was arguably nowhere near as bad or as offensive a taunting violation as what Mahomes did.
Watch both side-by-side, and you be the judge.
What Mahomes did was far worse. All Smith-Njigba did was spin the ball in front of an opponent. Mahomes not only spun the ball in front of the opponent, but he also pointed at him, flexed on him, and brushed his jersey.
And yet, Smith-Njigba is the one who gets penalized. Make that make sense.
And lest anyone think there’s only one example of this extreme officiating hypocrisy, let’s go back only a few weeks ago to when Rams wide receiver Puk Nacua did pretty much the exact same thing Mahomes did on Sunday night. The only difference? Nacua actually got penalized for taunting.
This is why the Chiefs turn many fans off. It’s not simply that they’re in the playoffs or the Super Bowl every single year. The NFL has a different set of rules for them than it does for everyone else.
And that is no longer a matter of opinion; it is a demonstrable fact shown in the videos above, university research studies, and historical analysis compiled by NFL analysts.
The tinfoil hat is no longer worn by those pointing out the bias toward the Chiefs; it’s worn by those who deny it.
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