FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – SEPTEMBER 17: Referee Shawn Smith #14 looks on prior to a game between the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on September 17, 2023 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
On Tuesday, the NFL made an announcement that raised eyebrows among football fans. Ref Shawn Smith was appointed as the head official for the highly anticipated AFC Championship Game, pitting the Kansas City Chiefs against the Baltimore Ravens.

Warren Sharp, a prominent NFL analyst, drew attention to an intriguing trend when it comes to games officiated by Shawn Smith and they are quite disturbing.

Over the past three years, road teams have had a much higher success rate when Smith is the lead official.

When other referees are at the helm, home teams have secured victory in 55.9 percent of the games. However, when Smith’s officiating crew takes charge, this statistic plummets to just 40.8 percent in favor of home teams.

This decision has not been met with unanimous approval from fans who are clamoring for a thoroughly officiated game. NFL fans were furious after the league revealed the officiating crews and took to social media to share their opinions, with many suggesting the move was for Mahomes.
“Patrick Mahomes gonna get saved by the refs again, who would have guessed,” one fan said.

“The Chiefs are 5-2 with Shawn Smith in the Mahomes era. Interesting,” another stated.

Smith has been with the NFL since 2015 after spending a few seasons as an umpire before becoming a lead referee. This will be his eighth postseason assignment, including five Wild Card Playoffs games, a Divisional Playoff, and a Conference Championship.

The Chiefs will head to Baltimore to face the No.1 seed Ravens who easily took down the Houston Texans in the divisional round.