Kansas City, Missouri – November 4, 2025
The NFL has officially suspended the entire officiating crew led by veteran referee Carl Cheffers following the highly controversial Week 9 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills — a game that ended in a 28–21 victory for Buffalo, but has since sparked outrage across the league.
According to multiple league sources and officiating reports reviewed by Football Zebras, the Cheffers crew — including umpire Fred Bryan, down judge Sarah Thomas, line judge Carl Johnson, field judge Nate Jones, side judge Chad Hill, back judge Dino Paganelli, and replay official Roddy Ames — has been placed on indefinite suspension pending an internal investigation.
What makes the situation even more explosive is that, according to an official NFL statement, the league has received over 10GB of evidence from an anonymous journalist alleging corruption and misconduct within the officiating crew from that very game. The evidence reportedly includes internal communications, financial records, and footage reviews that have now been submitted to the league’s Integrity & Compliance Division for analysis.
The decision comes less than 48 hours after fans, analysts, and even former players blasted the crew’s handling of several pivotal moments that directly affected the outcome of the game. The most controversial moment came in the third quarter, when Patrick Mahomes was flagged for intentional grounding — despite replays clearly showing the ball was tipped by a Bills defender before hitting the turf.
Gene Steratore has never seen something like this in his career:
Intentional grounding was called on Patrick Mahomes here, but the referees failed to see that the ball was tipped at the line of scrimmage. Andy Reid attempted to challenge the ruling on the field, only to be told… pic.twitter.com/NWeWynyoRG
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 2, 2025
Head coach Andy Reid immediately attempted to challenge the play, but referee Carl Cheffers ruled it “non-reviewable.” The decision killed a promising drive that could have tied the game, leaving both players and fans visibly furious.
The outrage grew louder when footage of the play went viral on social media. The phrase “Bills vs Chiefs rigged” trended #1 on X (formerly Twitter), amassing over 2.5 million posts within 24 hours.
Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez publicly demanded an investigation, saying on CBS’s NFL Prime Night:
“The tape clearly shows the ball tipped a Bills defender’s hand. How can that be called intentional grounding? The NFL needs to review this crew — this isn’t just a mistake, it changed the game.”
League officials confirmed late Monday that NFL Senior VP of Officiating Walt Anderson had initiated a full review after identifying “a series of critical officiating errors that failed to meet professional standards.”
The suspension marks one of the rare instances in modern NFL history where an entire officiating crew has been disciplined following a single game. While the NFL’s statement did not specify a timeline for reinstatement, the message was clear: accountability is non-negotiable.
For Chiefs fans, however, the damage has already been done — a potential comeback halted, a result clouded by controversy, and a growing concern about where fairness truly stands in the modern NFL.
