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The AFC Championship referee decision has raised some eyebrows.
Ahead of the conference championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, the NFL announced that Shawn Smith would be the head referee for the game.
After some details about Smith’s trends and history as a ref surfaced, conspiracy theories immediately began to run rampant that the league was putting the Chiefs in a favorable position in order to keep the Taylor Swift cash cow rolling.
NFL analyst Warren Sharp pointed out that Smith tends to favor the team on the road in a big way that is backed up by data.
“With road teams having such success under Smith, this hurts the Baltimore Ravens,” Sharp wrote. “And it certainly doesn’t help with conspiracy theories that the NFL would like nothing more than to see new Chiefs #1 fan Taylor Swift and her legendary fan base of the Swifties in the Super Bowl and buying up all the Super Bowl merchandise.”
From Sharp’s website:
Home teams have won only 40.8% of games in the last three years with Smith as referee.
That is the lowest win rate for any referee in the NFL.
Across the NFL, home teams have won 55.4% of games during that span. With Smith, the rate precipitously drops down to 40.8%.
The Ravens are favored by three points over the visiting Chiefs on Sunday afternoon.
While Smith’s assignment to the game could be a mere coincidence — even though there was a pool of eight referees to choose from, fans will be paying close attention to any suspicious calls throughout the game.
How could you not?
Kickoff between the Chiefs and Ravens is set for 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, January 28 on CBS. Let’s hope the game doesn’t come down to the final seconds with a controversial call determining the outcome of the game.
