I believe the word we’re looking for here is irony.
Heading into the Super Bowl, a big story driven largely by fans on social media was the idea referees favored the Kansas City Chiefs.
Now, one Chiefs star is complaining about the officiating following the Eagles’ lopsided win in Sunday’s Super Bowl.
“You know, I saw a lot of things in the media about the refs. Whatcha going to say now about the refs and us, when there was a lot of touchy calls?” wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins asked reporters following the game. “Are y’all going to report that?”
It’s unclear what “touchy calls” Hopkins was referring to, but it’s hard to blame an 18-point loss on the refs — especially when there wasn’t a big disparity in penalties between the two teams. During Sunday’s game, the Eagles received eight penalties for 59 yards, while the Chiefs were called for seven infractions for 75 yards.
There was a controversial call on a fourth-down play in the first quarter, but it helped the Chiefs. With the Birds needing two yards for a first down, Jalen Hurts slinged it to A.J. Brown, who hauled in the 32-yard pass. But the officials called Brown for offensive pass interference, a penalty criticized by Fox analyst Tom Brady.
“Don’t like that one one bit,” Fox analyst Tom Brady said. “This is too critical of a game … the hand fighting’s going on down that field.”
“I think it’s one that did not need to be called,” added Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira.
“In these games, you let the players play,” Brady said. “It should be decided on the field. I don’t like that call to start the game.”
The Chiefs got one back before halftime, when the refs called unnecessary roughness on Kansas City linebacker Nick Bolton for hitting Saquon Barkley after the play had ended. Brady also criticized that call, saying, “Not much there.”
The refs also missed a couple of calls late in the game but one would have gone against the Eagles and one against the Chiefs.