“We play extremely hard, and everybody goes out there and gets everything they have in order to win, for team success.” With Patrick Mahomes at the helm, it seems like sending a football 70 yards is just as easy as tossing a ball in your backyard. From wild plays to even wilder stats, the Kansas City Chiefs’ golden arm has turned legendary tales into reality through wild plays and even wilder stats: 32,352 rushing yards, 245 touchdowns, 3 Super Bowl victories, 2 MVP awards, and 6 Pro Bowl selections as of January 30, 2025. He’s basically a cheat code for the Chiefs, and yet, his recent comments have taken him to an entirely different field: officiating.

In the middle of all the hoopla surrounding the controversial AFC Championship game—let’s call it the game that had us all clutching our phones with nervous sweat—Mahomes made his stance crystal clear. “It’s just kinda part of the game,” Mahomes said when asked about potential fixes for officiating, specifically around spot calls. Yup, you heard that right. The ball spot issues? He’s all in for it, staying human, saying, “I will keep working and trying to find better ways to do it. But at the end of the day, you have to go out there and make it clear and obvious that you get the first down or you get the touchdown, and you wanna do that, and then you don’t have to worry about, replay or anything like that“.

As the Chiefs were embroiled in a heated AFC Championship game win over the Buffalo Bills (32-29, overtime), the spotlight was on everything but the football itself. The internet exploded with chatter about bad calls—the most infamous being Josh Allen’s fourth-down sneak. Some fans thought the refs blew it, but Mahomes? “I mean, it’s it’s just kinda part of the game. It’s just like calling balls and strikes in baseball” He’s all about keeping it simple and letting the chips fall where they may (no pun intended).

“I don’t feel that way. At the end of the day, the referees are doing their best to call the game as fair and as proper as they possibly can,” Mahomes added. A true leader, always backing the men in stripes. Whether the call is right or wrong, Mahomes’ mentality has been this: Do your best, leave it all on the field, and let the football gods take care of the rest.

But wait, let’s rewind to those chips. People are talking about integrating chips into the football to improve spot accuracy. Would that solve everything? Maybe. The NFL has already been embedding RFID chips into footballs since 2017 for performance analysis, so the idea isn’t as outlandish as it sounds. Still, Patrick’s like, “Don’t overcomplicate it,” rolling with the punches. “I mean, at some point, you just gotta play the game and let the kinda football gods handle the rest.”

Mahomes claps back at officiating controversy

In the 2024 AFC Championship game, Mahomes had an absolute field day: 18 completions in 26 attempts for 245 passing yards and touchdown passes in both passing and rushing. But stats only tell half the story. The Chiefs entering their third straight Super Bowl have confirmed Mahomes as one of the NFL’s all-time legends. The Chiefs could make the three-peat dream a reality.

Then there’s the “Xavier Worthy catch” drama: Was it a catch or wasn’t it? Was the ball touching the ground before he gained possession? Controversial, indeed. But like Mahomes said, “If you go out there and play with the right mentality and leave it all out in the football field, you kinda live with the results.” Sure, there’s noise, but in Mahomes’ world, there’s just execution.

Coach Andy Reid had his take on the accusations of referee bias. When asked about favoritism towards the Chiefs, his response was simply: “Yeah, right.” Classic Reid. Guts, Guts, and valor imbedded Guts. And if anyone knows the ins and outs of NFL officiating, it’s Dean Blandino, the former NFL VP of Officiating. He stepped in to debunk the “rigged” theories, claiming if the league had it scripted, he would’ve been pulling the strings. Instead, it’s just the nature of the game, full of complex variables and human error.

For the record, Mahomes wasn’t just playing games when he led the Chiefs to their third Super Bowl appearance. He’s played through controversy, carried his team to victory, and still manages to make us all feel like we’re watching a highlight reel every Sunday.

So as the Chiefs prepare for their historic Super Bowl showdown, here’s what Mahomes had to say about the noise that surrounds them: “We just wanna prove who the team we are and how we go about our business every single week.” No need for conspiracy theories. Just raw talent, determination, and a winning mentality. The ball’s in Mahomes’ court now—literally.