The Red King

Thank you! I said this prior to the game. The NFL got what they wanted, and didn't care who won. They got the Swifties. They got the three-peat drama. By calling a fair game, they got to push back against the refs+Chiefs narrative. Loved watching it. "What do you mean I can't line up in the neutral zone?", "What do you mean, I can't blatetly hold?", "What do you mean Mahomes can take a shot to the head and *not* get a flag?"

Watching the Chiefs get crushed while the refs called a fair game was cathartic, not gonna lie. Watching Mahomes take a shot to the head without drawing a penalty had me grinning ear to ear.

It's not just the calls. Yes, officiating has been bad for a long while. It's just how, by some *amazing* coincidence all of these close, critical, controversial plays go the Chiefs' way. All of them. Every time. Every game. I mean, statistically, what are the odds?

Why "forced"? They're going to give the Eagles preferential treatment. And just as bad as the Chiefs normally get. Why? Kills the claims. And it's safe now. What difference would it make to the league? They got the Swifties and all that to the big game. They got their three-peat drama. None of that matters after the Super Bowl. The league gets what it wants regardless of who wins. And if KC loses, they have the three-peat drama to replay down the line.

The controversial "stop" on 4th was stopped b/c, in part, the Chiefs had players lined up in the Neutral Zone with no flag. Not sure why that isn't talked about more.

https://www.on3.com/pro/news/lasik-com-offers-nfl-referees-free-procedures-following-controversial-call-in-afc-championship-game/

It's really the best way.

To be fair, Buffalo was so injury-ridden last season they were one hit away from suiting up a fan from the stands.

Actually, before realignment every division winner got a bye. You had three division winners and two Wild Cards. Wild Card weekend had the two Wild Cards play each other. The winner then joined the division winners in the divisional weekend. I think that was the fairest. Division winners needed to win two playoff games to reach the Super Bowl, Wild Cards needed three.

Used to be that way, when there were only two Wild Cards per conference. The #2 seed lost their bye when the third Wild Card was added. Ironically, once that Wild Card was added, Buffalo has won the #2 seed that season and every season after, because of course.

The league isn't even hiding it anymore. After last week's outcry I figured the NFL would have the refs/skycam/review try to avoid controversial calls, esp them all favoring KC. The three-peat is a better storyline, and the Swifties = ratings. They know they're the NFL. People will talk about boycotting, but precious few will follow through. Remember when people were supposed to boycott when streaming services started getting games? Especially playoff games? First time I've heard it, but on that fateful 4th down, apparently KC was lined up in the Neutral Zone, and no call?

I allow myself 30m after normal losses to just absolutly explode and vent. The game did it to me, and I have a right. After that, I feel it's me choosing to continue to make myself miserable. I used to let it ruin my night, and even the next day. It wasn't worth it. It was a philosophical change that worked wonders. This game took longer. I allowed myself to rampage last night, this morning, and even my drive into work. Once I punched in, I was done. Am I still occasionally getting melancholic? Yeah, but it's not tearing me apart. Hope that helps, in some way.

For the love of god, can our D ends hold contain?

Was thinking the same. The D should be named, "The Red Carpet".

Entirely possible, and also could have resulted in no OT.