Calling out the officiating | Scene Through the Lens

The sign that appeared across Independence Mall from our newsroom over the weekend might have turned a few heads of visitors standing in line to see the Liberty Bell. That “Beat the Refs” probably didn’t mean anything to out-of-towners - unless they were from Buffalo or Houston.

As Super Bowl LIX nears with the Eagles headed to New Orleans and Kansas City headed to their fifth appearance in six seasons, some NFL fans believe the Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes are the beneficiaries of favorable officiating, complaining that the referees too often give them the benefit of the doubt on calls.

In the AFC Title game Bills fans saw officials give the Chiefs possession late in the fourth quarter after Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen tried a sneak on fourth-and-one. Mahomes then scored a touchdown and the two-point conversion. That erased the Bills one-point lead, and the Chiefs went on to a 32-29 win that gets us to this Sunday’s matchup with the Eagles,

Or a week earlier when officials were criticized for two roughing calls that benefited Mahomes in the Chiefs’ playoff win over the Houston Texans.

Based on the sold-out crowd that attended the Eagles send off party at the Linc yesterday, folks here are confident in the team. Defensive end Brandon Graham told the fans, “We gotta go try to get this win, and we gotta come back and bring that trophy.”

Now if all that sounds like I’m heading to cover the Super Bowl because I know a lot about football and the Eagles, I’m not. And I don’t.

I covered that send off, concentrating more, as I am inclined, on the fans.

There was music, cheerleaders, highlight films, mascots, a viral Ukrainian immigrant sax player, and lots of green.

A few hours later my colleagues David Maialetti and Yong Kim captured the team arriving at the airport in New Orleans, while Monica Herndon was downtown in the French Quarter as the Lombardi Trophy also arrived for Sunday’s game. I’ll share their game photos here next week.

Since 1998 a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s “Scene Through the Lens” photo column in the print editions of The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color: