The Kansas City Chiefs are officially your Super Bowl 58 winner and everyone is already questioning was it rigged or scripted? Either way, congrats to Mahomes and the Chiefs, well deserved win.
Scripted or not scripted that’s the main question always being asked.
They frequently say that, “Truth is often stranger than fiction.” That’s true in many aspects of life — including the sporting world.
In American Football especially, we’ve seen so many strange occurrences, plays, bloopers and controversies to the point where you can’t help but ask yourself: Are some of these games being rigged?
And the Super Bowl is certainly no exception to this.
Not saying every big game is rigged, but here are 10 such Super Bowl games where things were fishy enough to have you wondering if the fix was indeed in.
Super Bowl 47: The Blackout Bowl
NEW ORLEANS, LA – FEBRUARY 03: A general view of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome after a sudden power outage in the second half during Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on February 3, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
A power outage in the Super Bowl? Seems a little too convenient, don’t you think?
The Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers squared off in Super Bowl 47, which was held at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The game looked to be over when Jacoby Jones kicked off the second half with a 109-yard kick return touchdown — putting the Ravens up 28 to 6.
On the ensuing drive, the power at the Superdome went out — delaying the game for 34 minutes. After play finally resumed, the 49ers racked up 17 unanswered points to make it a 28-23 game.
Justin Tucker would add two more field goals for the Ravens, with Colin Kaepernick scoring on a 15-yard touchdown run between the two Tucker kicks. The Ravens conceded a safety in the waning seconds, but held on for the 34-31 victory.
Though the Ravens won, the blackout led to the conspiracy theory that Roger Goodell and the NFL orchestrated the power outage to stop Baltimore’s momentum and help San Fran get back in the game. Terrell Suggs and Ray Lewis have both publicly stated that they believe it was done on purpose — with Suggs even alleging that Goodell was involved.
Super Bowl 40: Refs Screw The Seahawks
Hines Ward and Jerome Bettis celebrate with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after winning Super Bowl XL between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan on February 5, 2006. (Photo by Allen Kee/Getty Images)
Every single terrible call went Pittsburgh’s way in Super Bowl 40 against the Seattle Seahawks. For starters, Seattle wideout Darrell Jackson was penalized on a tick-tacky offensive pass interference that nullified a touchdown reception — forcing the Seahawks to settle for a field goal.
Then, after the two-minute warning in the second quarter, officials awarded Ben Roethlisberger a rushing touchdown — even though replays never showed the ball crossing the goal line before he was down.
Trailing by four early in the fourth quarter, Matt Hasselbeck found Jerramy Stevens for a catch near the one-yard line, but the refs penalized Sean Locklear for holding — which John Madden thoroughly disagreed with.
A few plays later, Hasselbeck was picked off by Ike Taylor in the red zone. Despite committing a clean tackle to bring Taylor down, Hasselbeck was penalized for a block below the waist—even though the block was totally legal.
The Steelers would put the game away on a trick play, with Antwaan Randle El tossing a touchdown to Hines Ward.
It wasn’t a good look in 2010, when Bill Leavy — the head official of that game — admitted that he screwed the game up.
One theory out there is that the NFL wanted Jerome Bettis to retire a Super Bowl champion in his hometown of Detroit, the host city for Super Bowl 40.
Super Bowl 55: No. 7 For Brady
TAMPA, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 07: Tom Brady #12 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates with the Lombardi Trophy after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium on February 07, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers defeated the Chiefs 31-9. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Love or hate Tom Brady, it’s hard to deny that the seven-time Super Bowl champion has been on the right side of very questionable officiating calls more often than not.
The many Brady haters will always argue that the NFL has long gone out of its way to protect him — whether he was with the New England Patriots or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Well, those conspiracy theories were further fueled during the Bucs’ Super Bowl 55 contest against Patrick Mahomes and the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs.
In that game, the Chiefs were penalized 11 times for 120 yards. In comparison, the Bucs were only penalized four times for 39 yards. Three of those calls against Kansas City came late in the second quarter and led to two Tampa Bay touchdowns.
Firstly, Mike Evans drew a 34-yard pass interference call on Bashaud Breeland — even though there was incidental contact. Former NFL referee Terry McAulay explained why it shouldn’t have been a penalty, stating the following:
“I looked at it again this morning and there was indeed feet entanglement with both playing the ball. That caused the defender to go down and that contact is incidental. This was not a foul.”
Moments later, Brady clearly overthrew Evans in the end zone. The ball was uncatchable, yet officials still penalized Tyrann Mathieu for pass interference
Also, Brady and Mathieu had been jawing at each other aplenty throughout the game. Yet at the end of the first half, only Mathieu was issued an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for his trash talk.
All those calls helped the Bucs cruise to a 31-9 blowout victory. Three atrocious penalty calls – all in favor of the Bucs. That’s a surefire way to make us question whether the fix was in.
Super Bowl 37: Raiders Threw It For Gruden
SAN DIEGO – JANUARY 26: An overhead view of the interior of Qualcomm Stadium before the start of Super Bowl XXXVII between the Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on January 26, 2003 in San Diego, California. The Buccaneers won 48-21. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
After the 2001 season, the Oakland Raiders and head coach Jon Gruden decided to part ways. Having fired a future Hall of Famer in Tony Dungy, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers gave up a hefty price to land Gruden from the Raiders —giving up two first-rounders, two second-round picks plus $8 million in cash.
Fittingly, the Raiders and Buccaneers met in Super Bowl 37 — less than a year after the Gruden trade. Though Oakland and their MVP quarterback Rich Gannon were favored to win the game, they put up an absolute stinker of an effort in a 48-21 blowout loss.
10 years after the game, however, Raiders legend and wide receiver Tim Brown dropped a bombshell accusation, suggesting the game was thrown for Gruden
In short, Brown alleged that the Raiders’ gameplan all week long was to run the ball aplenty – citing the size advantage their o-line had over the Bucs’ d-line. But two days before the Super Bowl, Browns claimed then-Raiders head coach Bill Callahan threw the previous gameplan out the window and called for a pass-heavy gameplan instead.
Brown also cited the friendship between Callahan and Gruden, even claiming that Callahan had animosity towards the Raiders.
“He hated the Raiders so much that he would sabotage the Super Bowl so his friend can win the Super Bowl. That’s hard to say, because you can’t prove it.
“But the facts are what they are, that less than 36 hours before the game we changed our game plan. And we go into that game absolutely knowing that we have no shot. That the only shot we had was if Tampa Bay didn’t show up.”
Jerry Rice, who was on that 2002 Raiders team, agreed with Brown and dropped this juicy quote:
“In a way, maybe because he didn’t like the Raiders, he decided, ‘Maybe we should sabotage this a little bit and let Jon Gruden go out and win this one.’”
It’s worth noting that Gannon threw three pick-sixes in that game. Hmm…maybe Callahan really did want to throw the game for Gruden?
Super Bowl 30: Neil O’Donnell Aids The Cowboys
TEMPE, AZ – JANUARY 28: Dallas Cowboys head coach Barry Switzer (L) has Gatorade dumped on him by players late in the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers 28 January during Super Bowl XXX in Tempe, Arizona. The Cowboys won 27-17. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) (Photo credit should read J. DAVID AKE/AFP via Getty Images)
Neil O’Donnell led the Pittsburgh Steelers to a Super Bowl 30 appearance, where they met a Dallas Cowboys team looking to lock down a third Super Bowl championship in four years.
Let’s just say that O’Donnell played so poorly in that game that it fueled speculation that he wanted to lose this game on purpose. I mean, his performance was truly off-the-charts terrible.
O’Donnell had only thrown seven interceptions in the regular season. Conveniently, he threw three interceptions altogether in Super Bowl 30. But it’s the manner in which he thew those picks that really has people wondering.
You see, most people are convinced O’Donnell truly tanked because his first two interceptions made it look like they were being thrown by someone who was desperately trying to lose the game for his team.
Just look at these two interceptions. ZERO Steelers were in the area:
Is it possible for a professional to be THAT BAD in the biggest game of his life? Or was O’Donnell simply guilty of throwing this Super Bowl? Only he knows the real answer to this mystery…
It’s also worth noting that this was his final game as a Steeler. So yeah.
Super Bowl 44: Did The Colts, NFL Help The Saints?
MIAMI GARDENS, FL – FEBRUARY 07: Drew Brees #9 of the New Orleans Saints celebrates after defeating the Indianapolis Colts during Super Bowl XLIV on February 7, 2010 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
The New Orleans Saints were a feel-good story when they won Super Bowl 44 in the 2009 season — less than five years after the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina.
But there are some folks out there who strongly believe that game was rigged in favor of the Saints. Now that we know all about the Bountygate Scandal, some folks like to cite the many dirty hits that New Orleans got away with during their postseason run.
Don’t forget Kurt Warner was knocked out of the Saints-Cardinals Divisional Round tilt – and New Orleans got away with a plethora of vicious hits on Minnesota Vikings players in the NFC Championship Game, including Brett Favre.
As for the suspicious events that took place during Super Bowl 44: Pierre Garcon dropped a wide open touchdown; the Colts couldn’t recover a simple onside kick to start the second half; Matt Stover missed a field goal in the fourth quarter; and Peyton Manning threw a pick-six to Tracy Porter in the waning minutes to seal the game.
Seems pretty far-fetched, but considering all the Saints got away with – be it penalties or incredibly lucky breaks like the Brett Favre back-breaking INT or the Manning pick-six — some conspiracy theorists out there remain convinced that Super Bowl 44 was rigged.
Super Bowl 54: 49ers Get Hosed By Awful Officiating Miscues
MIAMI, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 02: Frank Clark #55 of the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrate after defeating San Francisco 49ers by 31 – 20in Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium on February 02, 2020 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 31-20, in Super Bowl 54 to claim their first Lombardi Trophy in half a century.
But when you look back at the awful officiating that largely favored Kansas City, it’s not hard to begin questioning whether something fishy was going on.
There was a cheap offensive pass interference call on George Kittle that nullified a 42-yard catch at the end of the first half which could’ve set up a go-ahead field goal.
There was the officials missing a blatant offside by the Chiefs on 3rd-and-14 in the fourth quarter, where a San Fran first down could’ve helped put the game away.
And of course, there was this headshot on 49ers’ QB Jimmy Garoppolo from Ben Niemann that should’ve given San Fran a fresh set of downs. Instead, they had to punt, and Mahomes found Damien Williams for the game-winning touchdown pass minutes later.
Hmm…perhaps the league saw this as the perfect moment to anoint Mahomes as the next face of the NFL? Was this Roger Goodell’s way of building up his new superstar? Could that be the NFL’s motive for rigging the game? Hmmm…
Super Bowl 52: Eagles’ Time To Fly
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – FEBRUARY 04: Quarterback Nick Foles #9 of the Philadelphia Eagles raises the Vince Lombardi Trophy after defeating the New England Patriots, 41-33, in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium on February 4, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
For all the talk about how Tom Brady and the Patriots benefited from so many bad calls over the years, Super Bowl 52 was a day where the questionable calls went against them. So much so that some folks SWEAR the NFL and the officials rigged it to make sure the Eagles won this game.
For starters, Bill Belichick mysteriously benched standout cornerback Malcolm Butler before the game. To this day, we still don’t know the real story behind Belichick’s decision — but the defense sucked out there without him.
Then there was the “Philly Special” touchdown, which according to Mike Pereira, was a totally illegal formation that the officials didn’t notice. Even Corey Clement’s slick touchdown catch in the third quarter was suspect. We’ve seen more clear-as-day catches get ruled as no-catches, after all.
Maybe the league was trying to get back at Brady for the Deflategate fiasco? Or maybe they just wanted to avoid a Patriots blowout against the Nick Foles-led Eagles? We’ll never know for sure.
Super Bowl 51: Did The Falcons Blow It On Purpose?
HOUSTON, TX – FEBRUARY 05: Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots raises the Vince Lombardi Trophy after defeating the Atlanta Falcons during Super Bowl 51 at NRG Stadium on February 5, 2017 in Houston, Texas. The Patriots defeated the Falcons 34-28. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Not much of an explanation needed here. How does any professional sports team — let alone a team good enough to win the Super Bowl! — blow a 25-point lead in a quarter and a half?
The Falcons just needed to take a knee on every remaining offensive snap, and the game was over. Or, you know, Matt Ryan just didn’t have to take a sack, and Atlanta didn’t have to take an offensive holding penalty to knock themselves out of field goal range when they were up eight with a chance to put it away.
Not to mention that Robert Alford let a routine interception fall right through his hands and into the arms of Julian Edelman, who performed an all-time great circus catch.
Leading 28-3 only to allow 31 unanswered points? When you just needed like 3 more first downs to win the game? No wonder some people remain convinced this game was rigged.
Super Bowl 3: An NFL, AFL Conspiring Agreement?
MIAMI, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 02: tHE KANSAS CITY CHIEin Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium on February 02, 2020 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Joe Namath’s New York Jets were a massive 19.5-point underdog against the star-studded Baltimore Colts. Broadway Joe memorably guaranteed that his team would win the game, and they did just that — holding down the high-powered Colts to seven points in a mammoth 16-7 upset win.
But some folks out there think there’s an easy explanation for the Colts’ sleepy effort in that one: Maybe they wanted to lose on purpose! With the AFL and the NFL set to merge in a year’s time, maybe both leagues wanted the Jets — representing the AFL — to win that game in order to show the world that their teams could hold up with NFL clubs?
And having a celebrity like Namath in the Big Apple Market could only help the league in terms of marketing and media coverage. Bubba Smith of the Colts suggested there was a fix — pointing specifically to the suspiciously terrible play of Baltimore quarterback Earl Morrall.
Of all the rigged Super Bowls claims out there, this one is probably the most convincing.
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