The officiating crews for the Conference Championships have been assigned, and there seems to be some revolt from NFL fans about Clete Blakeman being the man in charge of the Chiefs vs Bills AFC Championship Game. Turns out, Bills fans shouldn’t be too upset about it.
While Blakeman and his crew are definitely flag-happy, there isn’t another referee in the league that Patrick Mahomes has lost more game with as the head official than Blakeman. Not only that, but the last time Blakeman and his crew were on a Chiefs game, it didn’t go well for Mahomes.
People have all kinds of opinions about Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, ranging from the league blatantly favoring them to Mahomes knowing how to juice the rules to his benefit. Bills fans are quick to point out that Mahomes tends to get calls that they don’t think Josh Allen gets. When it come to late hits, both in the pocket and when Allen slides, I agree.
With Blakeman on the call, we can expect a lot of flags. His crew leads the league in total flags per game (18.06) and penalty yards per game (133). That’s a lot of laundry.
The last time Blakeman and his crew officiated a game for the Chiefs was Christmas Day of 2023 against the Raiders. If that date sounds familiar, it’s because I’ve referenced it quite a few times in recent weeks as the last time the Chiefs have lost other than their Week 11 game this year against the Bills.
In that game, his crew threw nine flags for 64 yards, and five of the flags were against the Chiefs. In that game, which the Raiders won 20-14, Mahomes completed 27/44 pass attempts (61.4%) for 235 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Mahomes also took a lot of physical punishment in that game. Mahomes was sacked twice, had three QB hits against him, and he took a good amount of contact outside the pocket.
Correlation does not equal causation. Just because Blakeman officiated that game in 2023 does not mean the Chiefs will lose. However, when there are other officials in the league like Clay Martin, who Mahomes has a 7-0 record with as the official, this officiating crew drew doesn’t signal any kind of advantage to Mahomes and the Chiefs.
