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CBS Rules Official Makes Plea to Refs Before Bills-Chiefs AFC Championship Game

Kristen Wong

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) talks with referee Carl Cheffers (51) after penalty during the second half against the Buffalo Bills at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) talks with referee Carl Cheffers (51) after penalty during the second half against the Buffalo Bills at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
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The Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills are set to face off yet again in Sunday night’s AFC championship game with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. The fierce conference foes are plenty familiar with one another come wintertime—in the last five years, there’s only been one season in which the Chiefs and Bills haven’t faced off in the playoffs.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes currently holds the clear postseason edge against Bills’ Josh Allen with a 3-0 record. Allen, who is looking for his first career Super Bowl berth, will be hoping to rewrite that narrative at Arrowhead in a highly anticipated matchup that’s sure to come with plenty of controversy.

Amid recent outrage over the perception that Mahomes and the Chiefs are getting preferential treatment from the refs, CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore delivered a stern message to the officiating crew ahead of kickoff.

“Let them play physical, right up to that line of being a foul. Call the obvious and let the incidental/small stuff fall by the wayside,” Steratore wrote on X. “This is the conference championship game, it will be clean—both teams are exceptionally coached and aren’t new to this moment.”

The head referee for the AFC championship tilt is Clete Blakeman, who is working his 16th career postseason game.

Mahomes found himself in the center of a nationwide debate after the Chiefs’ divisional round win over the Houston Texans, when the Kansas City quarterback benefitted from two questionable roughing the passer calls. A recent ESPN graphic appeared to back the notion that the Chiefs have held a massive penalty advantage in the postseason since 2021.

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Kristen Wong
KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL Network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. Outside of work, she has dreams of running her own sporty dive bar.

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