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NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wants to assure you that the fix is not in for the Kansas City Chiefs.

“That’s a ridiculous theory, for anyone who might take it seriously,” Goodell told reporters during his annual Super Bowl media session. “But at the end of the day, it’s something we have to continue to work on: How do we make our officiating better at all times?”

Many football fans believe the NFL is rallying behind insurance pitchman Patrick Mahomes, ruggedly handsome tight end Travis Kelce and leggy songstress Taylor Swift, Kelce’s well-presented girlfriend.

Such conspiracy theories are not unusual in sports. For instance, back before Super Bowl XXXVI, Tipsheet encountered a fan in New Orleans who was absolutely convinced the fix was in for the New England Patriots over our heavily favored Rams.

The theory: America was reeling after 9/11, so helping New England score a massive upset would boost the NFL quest to uplift the nation with an ultra-patriotic Super Bowl.

(We’re not sure how halftime act U2 fit into that patriotism theory, but the Irish band did pay tribute to 9/11 victims during its set).

Anyway, the Patriots won 20-17 with the help of their extralegal “coverage” of Rams receivers while disrupting the Greatest Show on Turf. Tipsheet later ran into the same fan back in the STL and got an earful of told you so.

With suspicions soaring this time around, NFL Referees Association Executive Director Scott Green issued a statement denying that officials would help the Chiefs defeat the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl:

"It is insulting and preposterous to hear conspiracy theories that somehow 17 officiating crews consisting of 138 officials are colluding to assist one team. NFL officials are graded every week, on every single play of each game. These grades are the determining factor as to who receives postseason assignments. The NFLRA commends its members, who all strive to do exactly what all 32 NFL teams do, which is to excel at their jobs so that they are working the last game of the season — the Super Bowl."

Writing for The Ringer, Rodger Sherman summed up the absurdity of Chiefs conspiracies:

"Major League Baseball foolishly allows all its superstars to sign with super-popular superteams in Los Angeles and New York. The NBA has engineered yet another lopsided trade for the benefit of the Lakers, pairing LeBron and Luka in La La Land and putting a team with 17 NBA championships in the running for an 18th. But according to the conspiracy theorists, the NFL has apparently decided to rig everything for a team based in Kansas City, Missouri, America’s 31st-most populous metropolitan area, for a franchise that experienced almost no success for the vast majority of the league’s history.

"The nefarious plan makes too much sense. The league wants to protect the Chiefs, who have become a ratings behemoth. Their star tight end is dating the most popular singer in the world, allowing the league to unlock the female demographic it’s been missing. Their star quarterback is in 73 percent of commercials on TV. That same star tight end is in the other 27 percent of commercials, including one for COVID vaccines. You can just picture Roger Goodell, Taylor Swift, Jake from State Farm, and Dr. Anthony Fauci meeting up at an Illuminati bacchanal at one of Kansas City’s famous landmarks, like that barbecue place that used to be a gas station and still has the pumps out front. They’re clinking their champagne glasses while eating succulent, fall-off-the-bone ribs, and they’re toasting to their insidious new plan: for officials to make an iffy defensive holding call at a critical juncture in the biggest game of the year. ...

"We see it in front of our very eyes: Time and time again, the Chiefs’ opponents seem to have stopped them in a critical moment, but Patrick Mahomes points, a flag flies, and it’s first down again."

Here is what folks have been writing about the Super Bowl:

• MARK MASKE, The Washington Post: “For 20 years, the New England Patriots ruled the NFL with their unyielding, unapologetic, ‘Do Your Job’ brand of inevitability. Their complicated legacy included six Super Bowl triumphs in nine appearances, plus punishments levied by the league in the ‘Spygate’ and ‘Deflategate’ scandals. Some fans of opposing teams derided them as cheaters. All had to concede they were relentless winners.

"The Kansas City Chiefs have succeeded the Patriots as the NFL’s reigning dynasty. And they have become, accordingly, the team their fans love — and that so many others love to hate. They have replaced the Patriots as the NFL’s supposed evil empire, prompting social media conspiracy theorists to postulate that they get all the calls or even that the league has rigged the outcome of games in their favor.”

• PETE PRISCO, : “How do you pick against Patrick Mahomes in the biggest game of the year? You don't. That's the simple way to make a pick for Super Bowl LIX. When the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles take the field Sunday at the Caesars Superdome, the Eagles will do so with a better roster, more top-end players and a physical style that exudes bully ball. But the Eagles don't have Mahomes. He is Mr. Clutch, maybe the best ever at getting it done when his team is down or needs him to make a play.

"The Chiefs are 6-1 this season when trailing in the fourth quarter. In nine playoff games where the Chiefs were behind in the fourth quarter, Mahomes has won six of them and lost two others in overtime after tying it. He is 3-0 in come-from-behind victories in the Super Bowl. You picking against that? Mahomes might not have put up gaudy numbers this season, but there were reasons. The speed at receiver was lacking for much of the year, but it's better now with Hollywood Brown joining Xavier Worthy.”

• CHARLES MCDONALD, Yahoo! ������Ƶ: “The Chiefs did have a bit of a harder go this season than past years. According to data provided by TruMedia, the Chiefs ranked 32nd in explosive play rate this season (8.4%) despite flirting with being a top-10 offense for the majority of the season. Living 5 yards at a time is not exactly where the Chiefs imagined themselves with a quarterback as talented as Patrick Mahomes, but they’ve still found themselves back in the Super Bowl.

"As far as adversity goes, this is the toughest test the Chiefs have had in recent years. The wide receiver room suffered a huge blow with an early season ACL injury to Rashee Rice, All-Pro guard Joe Thuney has been playing left tackle due to issues at that spot, and they haven't had a consistent running game over the back half of the season.”

Megaphone

“When a lot of players retire, they always say they want to leave the game better than when they started. If we can get this three-peat and just continue adding into the legacy of the Kansas City Chiefs, I think that would be a huge accomplishment not only for us but for the NFL.”

Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones.