Social media detectives uncovered something fishy about the down judge who controversially ruled Josh Allen short of a first down on his 4th-and-inches quarterback sneak during the AFC Championship Game on Sunday.
Josh Allen and his Buffalo Bills were clinging to a one-point lead over the Kansas City Chiefs early in the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship Game when Sean McDermott called for them to try and convert a 4th-and-inches conversion.
Allen took the snap and tried sneaking up the middle for a first down. Though several camera angles show that he seemingly picked up the first down, Allen was ruled short — and a subsequent review upheld the call on the field.
I’m quitting watching football. There is no other way to teach @nflcommish a lesson. This is blatant cheating. #nflrigged pic.twitter.com/fGzya6LOQX
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) January 27, 2025
New angles with overlaid line show Josh Allen clearly picked up the first down against the Chiefs in the AFC Championship pic.twitter.com/aLMB791XIp
— TPS (@TotalProSports) January 28, 2025
Well, here’s where things are about to get even juicier for the folks who believe the NFL and its officials blatantly cheat for the Chiefs: Social media detectives discovered that Patrick Holt, the down judge who ruled Josh Allen short, has posted about his Baltimore Ravens fandom on Facebook…and that he has family in Kansas City:
Line judge Patrick Holt, who made the awful spot decision for Kincaid & Josh Allen in the Bills-Chiefs game, is a certified Ravens fan who also has family ties in Kansas City. Shocker pic.twitter.com/FO3X43Pi1m
— 𝙏𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝘽𝙚𝙚𝙧𝙨 (@tailgate_beers) January 28, 2025
🚨REPORT: The line judge Patrick Holt, who made the awful call of Josh Allen being short on 4th down in the #Bills–#Chiefs game, has posted that he is a BALTIMORE #RAVENS FAN and has family in Kansas City.
🤯🤯🤯
THIS IS CRAZY.
(h/t @tailgate_beers) pic.twitter.com/ZyqpCbLDsi
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) January 28, 2025
Let’s just say that Holt should have removed some of his old Facebook posts a long time ago. This latest discovery by fans certainly isn’t going to help the NFL’s fight against the “rigged” accusations.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio analyzed the confusion between Holt and line judge Jeff Seeman as they discussed where to mark the ball after Josh Allen’s sneak:
“On the critical fourth down from Sunday night’s Bills-Chiefs games, the official at the top of the screen was Line Judge Jeff Seeman (standing to the far left in the photo). The official at the bottom of the screen was Down Judge Patrick Holt.
After the play ends, Seeman walks to the scrum on his spot — the near side of the 40. It’s an indication that Seeman believed Bills quarterback Josh Allen had gotten a first down. Holt, however, was on the far side of the 40, short of the line to gain. And Seeman yielded his spot to Holt’s.
If Holt had deferred to Seeman, the Buffalo drive would have continued. It’s that simple. Two officials had two different spots, and one gave way to the other.”
The Chiefs will face the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 59, a rematch of the big game two years ago that Kansas City won 38-35.
Josh Allen & Bills Got Robbed
The NFL obviously isn’t rigged by any means, but it’s totally unfair that the Bills’ Super Bowl dreams were largely squashed by a terrible ruling between the officials. Subsequent replays showed that Allen likely crossed the first down marker, but there unfortunately wasn’t enough evidence for them to overturn it.
