Controversial Travis Kelce moment sparks fresh Kansas City Chiefs conspiracy theories

Conspiracy theorists are once again accusing NFL officials of aiding the Chiefs after Kansas City went unpenalized in Sunday's win over the Detroit Lions. 

The latest controversies were highlighted by a questionable third-quarter catch by Travis Kelce.

Although the ruling on the field was a reception, the ball appeared to rattle around as he fell to the field. In the end, Kelce seemed to trap the ball underneath his body, not that the on-field officials appeared to notice.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes wisely went no huddle on the next play to deny replay officials and Lions coach Dan Campbell the chance to review the catch, which was good enough for 13 yards and helped to set up a nine-yard touchdown pass to Hollywood Brown.

Fans, including the 'Rate the Refs' X account, clearly disagreed with the ruling.

'This catch by Travis Kelce should have been ruled an incomplete catch with how it hits the ground,' Rate the Refs wrote on X. 'Chiefs hurry and snap the ball before it can be reviewed.'

'Well it's the chiefs and a prime time game, so officials dare not make the correct call,' wrote on conspiratorial critic on X.

But not everyone agreed with that assessment. Namely, NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay said it was, indeed, a catch.

'I believe it would have,' the former NFL official said on the broadcast. 'It looks like he does get control prior to the ball touching the ground. And then he never loses it.'

That wasn't the only disputed call of the game, though.

Kelce appeared to get away with a holding penalty on a fourth-quarter screen pass to Brashard Smith in the fourth quarter. 

Mahomes found Brown for another touchdown a few plays later.

Refs also took a Lions touchdown off the board in the first quarter due to an illegal motion call against Detroit quarterback Jared Goff.

Goff began the goal-line play under center before motioning left behind receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown near the pylon.

With Goff split wide, running back David Montgomery received the direct shotgun snap before throwing back to his quarterback, who managed to fight his way into the end zone with a helpful block from St. Brown. 

At first, it looked like a clear touchdown and an early 6-0 lead at Arrowhead Stadium.

Unfortunately for Goff, he committed a penalty on the play by failing to first establishing himself in the backfield before motion out wide.

'This an illegal formation,' McAulay said.

Then, exacerbating the Lions' situation, Goff was flagged for delay of game while arguing the non-reviewable call with officials on the field. As a result, Detroit would have to settle for a field goal and an early 3-0 edge. 

What officials may have missed on the play was Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones lining up in the neutral zone.

'Is this a Chiefs gimme?' asked one Lions fan. 'Just like every chief game.'

Then there was a roughing-the-passer call against the Lions' Aiden Hutchinson, which led some Chiefs haters to accuse Mahomes of flopping on the play.

'Clear flop,' one fan wrote online.

Many other, though, called it a 'clear roughing the passer' penalty.

NFL fans have long suspected the Chiefs are benefitting from friendly officiating in an attempt to boost league television ratings. Those suspicions only grew in 2023 when Kelce began dating Taylor Swift, who helped to popularize the league among her army of fans. 

Statistics don't necessarily back up these claims of poor officiating, but on Sunday in Kansas City, the Chiefs did avoid a single penalty flag as they improved to 3-3 for the season.

'No penalties called on the Chiefs tonight,' one fan remarked on X. 'Lmao ok.'

'KC with zero penalties is hilarious,' a Lions fan added. 'NFL isn't even hiding it...false starts, holding and blocks in the back all-over.'

As another fan put it: 'When they overturned the first td we all knew what was going to happen.' 

The Chiefs committed 13 penalties in a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars a week earlier. And as Kelce told ESPN after the win, that remained a theme for Kansas City throughout the week.  

'Penalties and turnovers are going to ruin you in this league,' Kelce said. 'It was a bit embarrassing seeing how many flags we had last week. It was a huge focal point this week.'