Refs a non-factor in Eagles’ Super Bowl win over Chiefs, but not everybody agrees

The Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs were not the only teams in the spotlight entering Super Bowl LIX. Following a postseason filled with accusations of favoritism for the two-time defending champion Chiefs, the officiating crew was as well.

But while the group around referee Ron Torbert did get off to a suspicious-looking start — it effectively ended the Eagles’ first possession via an offensive pass interference call against wide receiver A.J. Brown — it was merely a footnote in the grand scheme of things. Officiating was a non-factor in the Eagles’ 40-22 victory.

After that OPI flag, 14 more were thrown. When all was said and done, the Chiefs had been flagged seven times for 75 yards compared to the Eagles’ eight for 59.

“I try to tell myself before every game, ‘The calls have a way of evening themselves out,’” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said after the game.

“Sometimes in the heat of the moment it’s hard to convince yourself of that, that the calls have a way of evening themselves out. Mad about that at first, but these guys are making split-second decisions and that was an all-star crew out there and they earned the right to be here too, at the Super Bowl. I thought they did a good job.”

Sirianni acknowledged that he was a biased observer, but he was not alone in his assessment. Officiating expert Ben Austro of Football Zebras shared a similar sentiment:

The game started on a sour note for officiating with noninterfering contact being flagged as offensive pass interference. It could have set the path for how this game was going proceed, but it was really the lone blemish in the game.

This crew was focused and deliberate with its calls. There was little delay in administering fouls. The one replay intervention was a close call in real time, and its completely supportable to have replay intervene. Throughout the game, the spots were there and when the Chiefs got desperate and committed uncharacteristic fouls, the crew was there to shut it down.

Not everybody was of the opinion that the officiating crew did a good job, though. Chiefs wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who finished the game with two catches for 18 yards and a touchdown, expressed his displeasure with the way the game was called.

“It’s my first year being with the Chiefs, and I saw a lot of things in the media about the refs,” he explained. “But, obviously, what are y’all going to say now about the refs and us? There were a lot of touchy calls. Are y’all going to report that? Are y’all going to talk about the refs now?”

Hopkins did not give any additional information about what those “touchy calls” were, and whether or not he thought they had a lasting impact on the game’s outcome. Given the blowout nature of the Super Bowl, and the fact that there was no obvious controversy coming out of it, that seems doubtful.