Cheffers and the Chiefs

[SunsetBengal]

Interesting article on the bad blood history between NFL referee Carl Cheffers and the Kansas City Chiefs.

TLDR? Kelce ran his mouth over a call that resulted in being the difference in a KC a playoff loss to Pitt in 2016. It's been a tough road for KC every time Cheffers has officiated a KC game since.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/chiefs-path-to-victory-on-sunday-just-got-more-complicated/ar-AA1l9Tcw?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=4cd5309964d6454bb065edc3f6341ccd&ei=38

Quote:16-year NFL referee Carl Cheffers and his crew are prepared to officiate the Kansas City Chiefs’ Week 14 matchup against the Buffalo Bills.

The last time the Chiefs saw Cheffers officiate a game was Super Bowl LVII against the Philadelphia Eagles. Don't let the outcome of that game fool you, though. Cheffers has a complicated past with Kansas City.

It all started in the 2016 postseason, in the divisional round game with the Pittsburgh Steelers. A holding penalty on then-left tackle Eric Fisher wiped out what would've been a game-tying two-point conversion attempt by the Chiefs. They'd lose the game 18-16, and Travis Kelce blasted Cheffers afterward.

“It’s ignorance, the ref, No. 51 (Carl Cheffers), should never be allowed to wear a Zebra jersey again,” Kelce said. “He shouldn’t even be able to work at *expletive* foot locker.”
Kelce was fined nearly $10K by the NFL for his comments, but that's only the beginning of the bad blood between the Chiefs and Cheffers.

Cheffers was the head referee in Super Bowl LV against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. During that particular game, Kansas City was penalized 11 times for 120 yards. Tampa Bay was only penalized four times for 39 yards. Cheffers and his crew set a Super Bowl record for first-half penalties in that game.

In Week 5 against the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022, Cheffers called a roughing the passer penalty on Chiefs DT Chris Jones. It eliminated a sack fumble and sparked league-wide outrage over the inconsistencies of the roughing-the-passer rule. Cheffers was also almost booed out of Arrowhead Stadium in this instance.

In Week 15 against the Houston Texans in 2022, Cheffers called a season-high 10 penalties against Kansas City for 102 yards. That game was a closer-than-expected 30-24 win for the good guys.

Of course, Super Bowl LVII didn't have any controversial penalties, at least not on the Chiefs' side of things. The holding penalty on Eagles CB James Bradberry against Chiefs WR Juju Smith-Schuster was all the talk in Philadelphia after the game. Some of their players were still bitter about it heading into the 2023 NFL season.

The games involving Cheffers have not been the most well-kempt when it comes to officiating, but it hasn't always been back-breaking for Kansas City. The Chiefs are 9-2 during games officiated by Cheffers in the Patrick Mahomes era.

At the same time, penalties have been a bigger problem for Kansas City this season than they have in the past, especially on the offensive side of the ball. The Chiefs simply don't have the firepower to overcome getting too far behind the sticks. That could play a factor with Cheffers as the white hat against the Bills in Week 14.