Once Again, the NFL Has Put the World on Notice the Regular Rules Will Not Apply to the Chiefs
Most of the time, football coaches can't finish a sentence without reminding us that in the NFL, each day is different. Every game is different. Every season is different. And that is self-evidently true.
But if there's one constant in pro football life, one thread that runs consistently throughout all the variables, it is that the Kansas City Chiefs are going to get the benefit of calls no other team does. And last night was further proof that no one should need.
Note that headline above. I chose those words carefully. Because exactly one year and one day ago, I was making the same point:
Two seasons in a row. Two NFL Kickoff games in a row. Two displays on prime time TV that the Super Bowl champs operate off a different rule book than the other 31. No case in point illustrated that more blatantly than this magical moment:
In case you need confirmation, here's the rule regarding time outs:
Steve Spagnuolo is not the head coach. Nor is he a player on the field who has been designated a captain for that game. Yet there was never a question as to which of those four "penalties or procedural issues" the officials were going to default to, which was the one with the "no action" baked into the pie.
But how did they justify it? Which interpretation of that rule did their "discretion" land on? No one can argue the Chiefs didn't gain an advantage. Spagnuolo's defense had the wrong call/formation to stop the look Baltimore broke the huddle with. Clearly Spagnuolo felt the situation was so bad it was worth burning a timeout and risking a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. And if you try to argue the "honest mistake" defense, you'd be held in contempt of court, given the fact he sprinted 20 yards to get the side judge's attention. Making it neither honest, nor a mistake. But the crew not only didn't penalize the Chiefs, they granted the frigging timeout. Forget it, Jake. It's Kansas City.
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That was just the most egregious. But there were plenty of calls and non-calls that all - with the notable exception of a late hit out of bounds on Patrick Mahomes that should've been flagged - all broke Kansas City's way.
Anyone who watched a snap of preseason was made award of a big re-emphasis on illegal formation penalties. In the Patriots last game, their offensive tackles combined for three of them. So did Baltimore's. Whether they had it coming or not:
So did the Ravens wide receivers:
The Chiefs? Not so much. When it comes to where they line up, they enjoy Diplomatic Immunity:
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The same privilege extends to when they choose to start moving:
Kansas City is the football equivalent of a rich guy's kid who keeps getting stopped for speeding in his Porsche, but gets off without so much as a warning because daddy can buy his way out of trouble. Or one of those politicians who laid down the laws during Covid and then broke them.
Again, this is nothing new. It might simply a matter of the officials just viewing them differently. In the way Lebron James gets away with travel ands double-dribbles like no one else, or how Greg Maddux always seemed to get the benefit of borderline strike calls. A sort of twisted sign of respect. Though a cynical fan might argue the NFL is invested in the Chiefs continued success for marketing and celebrity romance reasons. Wherever you fall on the conspiracy spectrum, there's no arguing this isn't happening. The body of evidence is simply too great at this point to deny it any further.