The officiating in the Chiefs’ 23–20 victory over the Bengals in the AFC championship game became a hotly contested topic of debate on social media Sunday night, with plenty of members of the NFL world weighing in. Among them was former NFL running back Danny Woodhead, who managed to make a rather clever pun to give his assessment of the game’s officials.
A number of calls came into question during the rematch of last year’s title tilt, including a late hit out of bounds by Cincinnati defensive end Joseph Ossai that put Kansas City in field goal range for the game-winning kick. Earlier in the half, the Chiefs were essentially given a “do-over” on an unsuccessful third-down play after an official tried to stop the snap but was drowned out by the raucous crowd.
All in all, the shaky officiating led some members of the NFL world to believe that the calls were clearly one-sided to Kansas City’s benefit.
By the time the game was winding down, Woodhead had seen enough. He took to Twitter and quipped that Arrowhead Stadium might be better referred to as “Refereehead,” instead of the “Burrowhead” moniker that the Bengals tried to have catch on throughout the week leading up to the game.
Cincinnati calling Kansas City’s beloved home stadium “Burrowhead” may have done nothing more than give the Chiefs bulletin board material for Sunday’s victory that will send them back to the Super Bowl for the third time in four years. Tight end Travis Kelce already called out those who used the nickname throughout the week when he interrupted Patrick Mahomes’s postgame interview to say, “Burrowhead my a–.”
Suffice it to say, Kelce may have had a similar message for Woodhead or anyone else that suggested the AFC championship game’s officials contributed to the Chiefs’ win.
