In a straight-up banger of a game. The Kansas City Chiefs demolished the Houston Texans 34-20 in the wild-card round of the playoffs. Patrick Mahomes and Co. were straight-up on fire as always. Securing their place in the postseason and keeping those Super Bowl dreams alive. But, hold up, there’s more. The Chiefs can never seem to dodge the drama. Every time they ball out, the ‘NFL rigged it for them‘ conspiracy theories come flying. Especially with all the noise surrounding Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. Seriously, you can’t even win a game without some conspiracy theories about it?

Well, Mitchell Schwartz, former Chiefs player and NFL vet, isn’t having it. He shut down those conspiracy theories with a tweet, saying, “People thought this stuff before Taylor Swift entered the picture. There’s just no universe where the NFL conspires to have Kansas City be the team that is the most successful.” Schwartz is out here defending not just the Chiefs but the whole integrity of the NFL, reminding everyone that these theories were around long before Swift and Kelce even made it official.

The conspiracy talk went into overdrive in 2023, with fans and analysts wondering if the NFL was pushing a whole storyline to make Kansas City the league’s top team. And when Swift and Kelce’s relationship hit the media, the noise only got louder. Swift’s presence at games brought in a ton of new fans, especially younger ones. It was basically the ‘Taylor Swift Effect.’ NFL commissioner Roger Goodell even said before Super Bowl LVIII, “We hear the stories, we see the data, people are talking about the game that weren’t talking about the game yesterday.” And man the numbers show it—Kelce’s jersey sales shot up 400%, and the Chiefs gained 200k new followers on Insta, even though they didn’t dive into the whole relationship drama.

Schwartz isn’t just out here defending the Chiefs; he’s sticking up for the whole game. The idea that the NFL would rig games for any team just doesn’t fly. The Chiefs’ success comes from straight-up talent, not some behind-the-scenes manipulation. Schwartz put it best when he said the Chiefs are winning because of Patrick Mahomes, Kelce, and the crew putting in that work. And look, just when everything seems fine. In 2023, the NFL posted about Swift 34 times, racking up 170 million impressions. Kelce’s jersey went crazy, and the Chiefs’ social media blew up. So, there is the ‘Taylor swift effect‘ to some extent.

But, even sites like Frontproof Media shot down the whole ‘NFL rigging‘ theory. They pointed out that while conspiracy theories are part of sports culture, there’s zero legit proof that the NFL plays favorites. With independent refs and oversight committees, every team’s got a fair shot.

Marca also gave Swift’s influence a shoutout, saying she helped boost the NFL’s profile, especially with young women, but they didn’t try to link that to any kind of bias. It’s just smart marketing. The Chiefs’ success isn’t some rigged storyline. It’s all earned through mad skills on the field, not some shady behind-the-scenes deal. At the end of the day, it’s about what happens on the field, not some conspiracy theory. But, the Texans players aren’t willing to believe that anytime soon.

Texans’ frustrations mount over referee calls vs Patrick Mahomes and Co

Before the game, Texans running back Joe Mixon didn’t hold back, saying, “Everybody knows how it is playing up here. You can never leave it into the refs hands. The whole world sees, man.” Pretty much calling out the fact that the refs playing a big role in how the game unfolded.

Will Anderson, the Texans DE, kept it real too, adding, “We knew it was going to be us versus the refs going into this game.” And honestly, it’s hard to argue when you look at the missed calls. Travis Kelce was straight-up forgotten by the refs, finishing the game with 7 catches, 117 yards, and a touchdown—like, come on, how do you let that happen? On top of that, Chris Jones got held a dozen times without a flag. And a penalty extended a Chiefs drive that should’ve been a 3-and-out.

But it wasn’t just the missed calls on Kansas City’s side. The Texans had their own struggles. They missed a field goal, an extra point, and had a field goal blocked. Meanwhile, the Chiefs defense was eating up the Texans offense in the fourth quarter, shutting them down when it mattered most. And let’s not forget the clear hold missed on the Texans’ offense that helped Patrick Mahomes and Co put up points.

At the end of the day, both teams had some sketchy calls going against them, but the Texans were left fuming, feeling like they were fighting both the Chiefs and the refs all game. Whether its bad calls or missed calls, it’s always part of the game—but it sure seemed to hurt the Texans more this time around.