The anti-Chiefs hysteria is reaching comical levels

The Kansas City Chiefs are the two time defending Super Bowl champions and will play this Sunday for the chance to continue their quest for the NFL's first ever three-peat. They've been to four of the past five Super Bowls, winning three of them. Their quarterback is viewed as the face of the NFL and their star tight end is dating the biggest music star on the planet. They dominate headlines, commercials, and all types of media almost as much as they dominate on the field and most everyone outside of Chiefs Kingdom is sick of it.

At the height of the New England Patriots dynasty I am guilty of feeling the exact same way. I was tired of the Patriots winning. I was tired of hearing about how Tom Brady was the greatest of all time. I was tired of seeing Brady and Rob Gronkowski on commercials and having them talked about on every NFL program on both television and radio. I was fed up with them, but I don't think I ever let it cloud my judgement. The Patriots and Tom Brady were truly great, not because the NFL was rigged for them, they were just plain great.

Now to be fair, I think most people in the natioanl sports media will give the Chiefs credit. I don't think most of them think the Chiefs are bad and are just being propped up by favorable officiating or NFL script writers. There are occasional doubters like Rex Ryan in this clip from last month.

https://x.com/ESPNNFL/status/1863262436993687978

That kind of take isn't really what I'm talking about with the wave of anti-Chiefs hysteria that seems to be sweeping the NFL world right now. I'm talking about people being so sick of the Chiefs that it clouds how they view the team. Here are Craig Carton and Mark Schlereth on Breakfast Ball talking about how sick of the Chiefs they are and how they want anyone else besides them to win.

https://x.com/BrkfstBallOnFS1/status/1880261067953013206

Now to their credit, Carton talks about how great the Chiefs are, but he perfectly captures the Chiefs fatigue that many in the NFL are feeling. It certainly isn't keeping them from still watching the Chiefs play, but that fatigue (of flat out frustration) with the Chiefs is now clouding how people view what happens in their games. Let's take this hit on Patrick Mahomes from the Texans Will Anderson Jr.

https://x.com/The33rdTeamFB/status/1880735989783822372

Now we can debate if that type of hit should be a penalty in the NFL, but what shouldn't be up for debate is that the referees have been calling those types of hits roughing the passer for years. Are they always consistent? No, because as you see in every NFL game played on every single weekend of the season, the referees are inconsistent, but I've seen hits very similar to that one called roughing dozens of times against a wide variety of quarterbacks.

Then there is the play where Mahomes scrambled and slid late and two Texans hit him and each other that outraged many (including Troy Aikman who deserves some share of the responsibility for the over-the-top reaction because of how he responded). On that play you can make a legitimate argument that Mahomes slid late. Yes, the Texans hit each other, but they also hit Mahomes in the head with their forearms. Do I think it's borderline and could have been a no-call because of the late slide? Sure, but if KC did the same to an opposing quarterback I'd immediately be looking for a flag because of how things are being called in the NFL these days, as opposed to screaming at the television in outrage if there was one.

The Chiefs fatigue and frustration that Carton and Schlereth admitted to in the earlier clip is clearly effecting how people view what happens in the game. Normal penalties that you see every week (even if they are sometimes called inconsistently) are provoking reactions like this one from Adam Schein:

https://x.com/AdamSchein/status/1881027295521214966

This overdramatic reaction would never happen if the Chiefs had been called for those exact same calls in the exact same way against the Texans. There might have been a few "that was kind of a weak call" takes from some national media in the moment and then not another word would have been said about it. Instead we get this kind of hysteria from hot take artists like Skip Bayless.

https://x.com/RealSkipBayless/status/1880764949909393429

If that post wasn't enough for you, here's Chris "Mad Dog" Russo on the Dan Patrick show.

https://x.com/dpshow/status/1881793459708649678

You can make an argument that maybe Bayless and Russo don't actually believe what they're saying, that they just want the attention that comes with it. That could be true, but it fuels the fire of the fans of other teams that are out there eating those takes up. While not as overdramatic as Bayless and Russo, Pat McAfee addressed the issue on his show as well. (Language Warning)

https://x.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status/1881388280316625048

McAfee doesn't actually say he agrees with the take. He sidesteps it by just saying "this is what people are saying". It certainly is more credible than some of the other takes, but it also isn't pushing back against the narrative either. It's broadcasting the narrative (and benefiting from the views it brings) without fully endorsing it.

It also isn't just fans that are buying into the narrative the more it is put out there. The Texans players and even their head coach DeMeco Ryans pushed the same idea. Listen to what Will Anderson Jr. had to say after the game.

https://x.com/JamesPalmerTV/status/1880790592172781697

Thankfully there are some out there that aren't letting their Chiefs fatigue effect their options. There are some out there that aren't buying into the hysteria. Here's Kay Adams with a really well-reasoned take.

https://x.com/heykayadams/status/1881784430232285440

Chris Simms also had an unbiased outlook on the topic. (Language Warning)

https://x.com/BryanStewart_/status/1881370383955460174

Even a heated rival, former Denver Bronco Aqib Talib managed to be unbiased.

https://x.com/AqibTalib21/status/1881786160445632745

So not everyone is buying into the anti-Chiefs hysteria, but it is hard to ignore these days. It's become so popular that some media members may be leaning into it for the views. Regardless of if they believe it or not, it really is getting out of hand and it's hard to respect those that can't seem to separate their emotions from reality. They'd rather rant about penalties and conspiracies than talk about the fact that we get another historic matchup between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.

Hopefully the Chiefs are just using this all as motivation that they can take out on the Buffalo Bills this Sunday. Even if they do, we should all be prepared for any penalty or missed penalty in the game to be wildly blown out of proportion and used as an excuse as to why/how the Chiefs won. The best thing that fans who are bothered by these reactions can do is not engage with the media personalities who stoop to that level. Listen to more of the Kay Adams of the world and not the Chris Russos. Your sanity will thank you for it.