NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The officials were a big storyline headed into the Super Bowl thanks in part to social media conspiracy theories about favoritism toward the Kansas City Chiefs.
They were a big part of the first quarter of the game with both teams ending up on the wrong side of a close call.
The first questionable call came on the opening drive of the game when the Philadelphia Eagles appeared to convert a fourth-and-2 from midfield with a 32-yard pass from Jalen Hurts to A.J. Brown.
But the official immediately threw a flag because Brown shoved cornerback Trent McDuffie's facemask. While there was some contact, Fox officiating analyst Mike Pereira said it shouldn't have led to a flag.
Those kinds of close calls that have tended to go in Kansas City's favor in recent playoff games have fueled the conspiracy theorists and have been a major topic all week. Commissioner Roger Goodell called the allegations “ridiculous” during a news conference Monday and the head of the officiating union called it “insulting.”
On Philadelphia's next possession, the close call went the Eagles' way. Hurts threw an incomplete pass to Dallas Goedert on third-and-5 from the Kansas City 42. But the officials once again threw a flag because McDuffie made contact with Goedert's facemask and Pereira didn't like that call either.
Three plays later, Hurts scored on a 1-yard run for the first score of the game.
The Eagles got help from another key third-down penalty on their next possession with Charles Omenihu getting called for lining up in the neutral zone, negating a third-down sack that would have forced a punt.
Philadelphia became the first team since at least the 2000 season to convert two third or fourth downs by penalty in the first quarter of a Super Bowl.
The Eagles also got bailed out by a questionable late hit on Saquon Barkley on an incomplete pass on second-and-26. But Philadelphia didn't score on the drive.
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