The Kansas City Chiefs are set to play in their fifth Super Bowl in six years, and much like the New England Patriots of the 2000s, there have been questions about their success.
As the Chiefs look to win their third consecutive Super Bowl, Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman has taken shots at Kansas City and explained why he doesn’t respect them.
Rashod Bateman Explains His Hate for Kansas City Chiefs
Throughout the 2024-25 NFL playoffs, officiating has been under intense scrutiny, with multiple questionable calls seemingly favoring Kansas City. From a soft roughing-the-passer penalty against Patrick Mahomes in the Divisional Round to a highly debatable catch ruling in the AFC Championship Game, the chatter about officiating bias has only grown louder.
As the debate raged, Bateman appeared on the SiriusXM Fantasy Life Show and revealed he no longer respected the Chiefs. The Ravens WR indirectly pointed toward recent theories of Kansas City being favored to win by NFL referees.
“I just don’t have respect for them anymore. And I think we all see why. Some stuff just goes too far. It affects other people and other people’s lives. It affects other people’s outcomes.”
Bateman, who posted career highs across the board this year, added that he wanted the Philadelphia Eagles to win Super Bowl 59.
“I want the Eagles to win. But we all know how that goes,” he said
WOW: #Ravens WR Rashod Bateman wants the #Eagles to win because of his hate for the #Chiefs.
“I want the Eagles to win. But we all know how that goes… I just don’t have respect for them (KC) anymore."
👀
(Via MBFantasyLife) pic.twitter.com/uVRpPLRZJV
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) February 9, 2025
However, the NFL and its referees have termed the allegations baseless and an insult to the league. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell dismissed claims that the league rigs games for the Chiefs as “ridiculous.”
“Commissioner Goodell’s comments that it is ‘ridiculous’ to presume that NFL officials are not doing everything possible to make the right call on every play is spot on,” NFL Referees Association executive director Scott Green said in a statement.
“Officiating crews do not work the same team more than twice each regular season. It is insulting and preposterous to hear conspiracy theories that somehow 17 officiating crews consisting of 138 officials are colluding to assist one team.”
As Super Bowl 59 approaches, Kansas City will look to block out the noise and focus on its rematch with Philadelphia. But for many fans, the question remains — are the Chiefs just that good, or are they getting some extra help along the way?
How much help the league’s 12th-best offense (by PFN’s Offense+ metric) gets will be a key factor in the postgame discourse.
One thing’s for sure: the debate isn’t going away anytime soon, especially if Kansas City gains from another crucial call on Feb. 9 in New Orleans.