NFL: AFC Championship-Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs
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Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Drue Tranquill isn’t impressed with NFL fans who believe the refs are helping guide his team to yet another Super Bowl.

In fact, he’s got two words for you – “Kick rocks.”

Tranquill, who fell just six tackles shy of the century mark this season, commented on X, where he credited the Buffalo Bills for their effort in Sunday night’s AFC Championship game.

“Shoutout to the @BuffaloBills .. heck of a battle,” the six-year veteran wrote. “The rest of y’all can take all that ‘ref’ talk & kick rocks. We stand on business.”

The Chiefs defeated the Bills 32-29 and will try to win their third straight Super Bowl when they take on the Philadelphia Eagles on February 9th.

There’s A Reason For The ‘Refs/Chiefs’ Talk

As has been outlined extensively here at Bounding Into Sports, there is a reason Drue Tranquill felt compelled to make this comment. Because talk of the Chiefs being the beneficiary of bad refs is so prevalent, the team is clearly hearing the whispers.

The Chiefs did beat the Bills in the final score, but the takeaway was more about how the referees lent a helping hand to the defending champs.

There were several suspect calls in the game, including the Chiefs being granted a catch despite receiver Xavier Worthy not having possession when he came down, and of course, the now infamous first down by Bills quarterback Josh Allen that was ruled short of the line to gain.

Prior to their contest with the Bills, the Chiefs played the Houston Texans in the AFC Divisional round game, and the game turned on a pair of roughing-the-passer calls against Texan defenders on quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Replays on at least one of those showed the defenders didn’t hit Mahomes at all.

Related: Are the Refs Helping The Chiefs? Breaking Down the Worst Calls From the AFC Championship Game

Tranquill Doubles Down on Josh Allen Call

Tranquill also poured salt in the wounds of Bills fans by claiming Allen didn’t make the first down marker on the above play, even though replays showed that he had.

The Chiefs linebacker particularly took aim at Barstool Sports president Dave Portnoy, who slammed the NFL after losing a major bet on the game. The Allen call did not amuse him.

“Let me tell you something: the refs should be in f***ing prison. Refs should be in prison, that fourth-down spot changed the whole game,” Portnoy fumed, later adding a hashtag on X suggesting the NFL is “rigged.”

Tranquill fired back on X.

“Should have taken your $1M from #TrumpCoin and taken a nice vacation,” he mocked. “He didn’t get it & you know it.”

Allen definitely got the first down.

The Chiefs and the refs will be taking on the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX. Kansas City is currently a 1.5-point favorite, which is pretty low when considering they’ll have seven extra guys wearing zebra stripes on the field at all times.

Rusty Weiss is a lifelong NFL and MLB fan (Cowboys/Dodgers) and sometimes fan of college basketball (Xavier). Rusty is ... More about Rusty Weiss
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