The Bills are set to host the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional game this weekend
Patrick Mahomes (L- Imago), Shaun Hochuli (M- X) and Josh Allen (R- Imago)
The NFL postseason season is getting really interesting. In the second round of the playoffs, the AFC East champions, Buffalo Bills are set to host the AFC West champions, the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend. Recently, the league announced that the exciting divisional round game will be officiated by a crew headed by Shawn Hochuli, which has caused concerns among the Bills fans.
Shawn Hochuli, son of former NFL referee Ed Hochuli, entered the league back in 2014 and was promoted to be a lead referee in 2018. He is known for calling penalty-filled games and has been accused of favoring the Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles for various reasons.
The Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs have a record of 8 wins and 2 losses whenever Hochuli officiates their game, including a clean 2-0 record in the postseason. On the flip side, the Buffalo-based football team has an ugly record of just 1 win and 3 losses, when the game was officiated by Hochuli.
In the 4 Bills games Hochuli has officiated so far, he has called 40 penalties on them for 347 yards. Besides, there are also instances where he missed to call a penalty against the Bills’ opponents. Most recently, Hochuli’s crew failed to call a blatant horse collar tackle penalty on Josh Allen during their regular season matchup against the Eagles.
Apart from the referees, the other bit of bad news for the Bills is injuries. Throughout the season, the Bills have been plagued with injuries to several of their star players. In the wildcard game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, many players including Gabe Davis, Rasul Douglas, and Taylor Rapp couldn’t play due to injuries. Furthermore, they also lost some other players during the game.
The Bills’ head coach Sean McDermott recently announced all the injured players are on a day-to-day process and will see how the week unfolds for them.
NFL fans on social media, especially the Bills fans were not happy to see Shawn Hochuli being announced as the head referee for their divisional-round game against the Chiefs.
Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen (Via Imago/People)
Fans have already started worrying about the Bills’ chances of beating the Chiefs in a game officiated by Hochuli. Check out some of the reactions attached below.
Apart from speculations and theories, there is no proof that Hochuli favors the Chiefs or any other team. Nonetheless, the fans can expect another blockbuster duel between the two top quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen in the postseason.
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