At some point in the playoffs, a debate always comes up about whether the officials should call the rules strictly or “let them play.” That debate was particularly loud during the NFC Championship Game, when the officials let them play for most of the game, only to infuriate Packers fans with a key pass interference call in the final minutes.
In Super Bowl LV, Chiefs coach Andy Reid is expecting the officials to let them play. Within reason.
“Yeah, so normally that takes place,” Reid said when asked if the officials will let the players play. “Now, the referee that’s working our game, Carl Cheffers, he’s done a couple of our games this year, so he knows us, we know him. And [Fred] Bryan, the umpire, we know him—the back judge, all these guys have worked our games and/or have been at our training camps in years past. I think Bruce [Arians] would tell you the same thing, by the time you get to this one, they know you, they kind of know your players and they’ve watched tape and so on, so they’ve got a pretty good feel on things. But no, I think they let you play within reason. They’re still going to call holdings and do those things, but within reason they’ll let you play.”
No one wants to see the officials decide the Super Bowl, but they can decide the Super Bowl either by throwing too many flags or by swallowing their whistles.