The NFL playoffs are rigged. The referees favor the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s all a conspiracy to hand those Reid-revering, Mahomes-adoring, Kelce-and-Swift-lovin’ cultists a third consecutive Super Bowl championship.

For these charges to stick, however, evidence and motive need to be established. Let’s start with evidence.

—A ruling that Chiefs receiver Xavier Worthy made a catch deep in Bills’ territory on a third-and-five desperation pass from Patrick Mahomes with 3:13 remaining in the first half. Replays indicated the ball struck the ground and could have been called incomplete. Kansas City promptly scored a touchdown.

—Bills quarterback Josh Allen attempted a sneak on fourth-and-one in the fourth quarter. The official dashing in from the Buffalo sideline gave him enough progress for a first down. The official dashing in from the Kansas City sideline ruled him short.

Guess which official spotted the ball? The Chiefs took possession and promptly scored a touchdown and two-point conversion to erase a one-point Bills lead and seize control in their eventual 32-29 win that sets up a second Super Bowl matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles in three years.

CBS color commentator Tony Romo was initially surprised that the ruling on the field stood as called, and CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore said, “I felt like he gained it by about a third of the football.” CBS play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz replied, “I agree.”

—Those plays came a week after the officials were roundly criticized for two calls that benefited Mahomes in the Chiefs’ playoff win over the Houston Texans: roughing the passer and unnecessary roughness penalties that didn’t look so rough on replay.

—During the Chiefs’ current nine-game playoff winning streak, they have not been called for a single roughing-the-passer penalty and only one unnecessary roughness penalty. Their opponents have been called six times for roughing Mahomes and four times for unnecessary roughness.

That’s reasonably damning evidence, even if it is mostly anecdotal. So, what about motive?

This is where the conspiracy theory loses its legs. Why would the NFL, and even more specifically, why would NFL referees want the Chiefs to win? So Mahomes can add to his already ubiquitous endorsements? Adidas, Oakley, Head & Shoulders, State Farm, Bose, DirecTV, Essential Water and EA Sports aren’t enough?

So coach Andy Reid can babble “Bundle-Rooski” on inane commercials for another season? So hardcore football fans can grumble at Taylor Swift cheerleading the Chiefs from a luxury box?

Chiefs “fatigue” is a real thing. They are so accomplished at winning close games — going 11-0 in one-score outcomes this season — with Mahomes making astonishing plays, it must seem to fans of opposing teams the whole thing is rigged. But the NFL has no reason to secretly force the officials to swing calls toward Kansas City.

And officials have no reason to purposely blow calls, according to Mike Pereira, the rules analyst for Fox Sports and former head of NFL officiating.

“The fact that [officials] are looking out for any team or any individual is an absolute myth,” Pereira said last week on “The Rich Eisen Show.” “You don’t want to get fired. You want to be right. People that say that don’t know a damn thing about officiating. Until you put the uniform on, until you have to make those quick judgments. … get off my train. Period.”

Even more succinct was Chiefs linebacker Drue Tranquill’s message to fans who think his team gets special treatment from the referees: “Kick rocks.”

CHARLOTTE, N.C. —  The Lakers were perfect, Anthony Davis dominating everywhere on the basketball court while the scoreboard ticked up in their favor on nearly every possession. The Lakers’ energy was off the charts, the team in complete control as it flew around and forced turnovers and missed shots. The offense was in perfect sync as it found either Davis or someone else wide open for layups and dunks.

It was a team at its peak. But it lasted just 12 minutes.

Nearly as quickly as the Lakers sprinted to the top of their powers Monday in Charlotte, they plummeted to their depths, a 23-point first-quarter lead dwindling all the way down to two in the fourth. Still, even without any real momentum for the last three quarters, the Lakers managed to escape with a 112-107 win in a game where they never trailed.

Davis finished with 42 points and 23 rebounds. His first quarter was a historic level of domination. He made his first seven shots and scored 21 points while grabbing 11 rebounds. No player in the last 28 years (as far back as Stathead.com quarter data goes) opened a game with 21 points and 11 rebounds in the first quarter.

“He had it all going,” LeBron James said.

The 21 points and 11 rebounds were more than the entire Hornets team had in the first quarter.

“That’s an impressive game. Start off by saying that,” Austin Reaves said. “But that might be the most impressive quarter of basketball I’ve ever seen an individual play. I felt like we almost could have went and sat down and watched him do what he does.”

They kinda did.

Charlotte, like Lakers coach JJ Redick predicted before the game, started launching three-pointers after the Lakers shut down the paint. LaMelo Ball’s second three early in the second quarter cut the lead to 16, but he rolled his ankle while backpedaling down the court. He left the game and didn’t return, playing only nine minutes.

The Hornets, though, stayed hot from deep while the Lakers’ execution on both ends of the court cratered. James badly airballed a three to end one possession. Davis was forced to shoot off of one knee from 19 feet away to end another.

Charlotte (12-31) cut the lead to eight by halftime, aided by seven Lakers turnovers in the second quarter alone. Luckily, Davis kept dominating.

“I was just feeling good,” Davis said.

The Lakers (26-18) never fully regained their rhythm, only briefly sparking in the second half while leaving the game grateful that they had built such a large cushion early.

“We played hard for four quarters. Now it was not pretty, but we played hard for four quarters,” Redick said. “I think for me, we made a lot of mental errors tonight. And look, I don’t know if that’s coming off Saturday and the long flight yesterday and getting acclimated to East Coast time. Felt a little bit of brain fog, less so than just like guys not playing. Guys played hard tonight and guys were connected tonight. We just had a lot of mental errors.”

The Lakers turned the ball over 19 times for 28 Charlotte points. They allowed the Hornets to make eight more threes than they did. But even when Charlotte got within a possession, the Lakers always recovered.

“We didn’t come here to try to blow nobody out,” James said. “We came here to win the game. And we played hard from start to finish.”

Jarred Vanderbilt, playing his second game this season, had a key steal and dunk in the fourth. Max Christie, who had gotten crossed up with James on an earlier fourth-quarter possession, had a four-point play in front of the Charlotte bench.

And Dorian Finney-Smith punctuated the game with a monster dunk over Charlotte’s Miles Bridges.

“That’s going on the ‘Gram,” Davis said.

Cam Johnson’s final game as a Net may have already happened. 

The star forward and team’s second-leading scorer, who has missed the past two games with a re-aggravated right ankle sprain, sat out Monday’s 110-96 loss to the Kings and will be reevaluated next week, said coach Jordi Fernandez. 

Johnson will miss the next two games — at Charlotte and at Houston — this week, which leaves only two more games to play before the trade deadline on Feb. 6. 

“He’ll be reevaluated I think next week. He’s out right now,” Fernandez said before tipoff at Barclays Center on Monday. “Obviously we want him to get that ankle right. He was good when he came back, it’s just like he tweaked it again twice. And again, it’s unlucky, but we just want to make sure that now it’s strong enough that he’ll be able to play through things and he’s 100 percent. Obviously, we want him back. We love having Cam Johnson, because you guys know his leadership and also the impact he has for us, but right now this is the situation that we have to deal with.” 

Johnson is the latest Net whose name has come up in trade rumors following the departures of Dorian Finney-Smith and Dennis Schroder.

One of the teams Johnson has been linked to is Sacramento. 

Johnson initially injured his ankle in the final seconds of the Nets’ 113-110 win over the Bucks on Jan. 2 while coming down with a rebound.

The injury sidelined him for five games, until his return against Portland on Jan. 14, when he scored 24 points. He re-injured the ankle in a loss to the Knicks on Jan. 21. 

Noah Clowney exited late in the second quarter with what appeared to be a left ankle injury and was eventually ruled out for the remainder of the game. 

Following the Nets’ seventh straight loss, Fernandez did not have an update on the young forward. 

Clowney went up for a rebound, didn’t come down with it, and landed on Domantas Sabonis’ foot. He went down in what appeared to be a lot of pain and was holding his left leg. He was helped off the court by the training staff. 

Cam Thomas is set to undergo scans on his injured left hamstring Wednesday, Fernandez said. Following that, the Nets will provide a timeline for his return.

Thomas, who is the team’s top scorer, averaging 24.7 points, has missed the past 13 games. 

Ben Simmons (lower back soreness), Bojan Bogdanovic (left foot injury recovery), Johnson (right ankle sprain), Maxwell Lewis (left tibia fracture), Thomas (left hamstring strain), Trendon Watford (left hamstring strain) all sat out against the Kings on Monday. 

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

UFC Light Heavyweight champion Alex Pereira may be booked to fight Magomed Ankalaev, but he’s still interested in fighting former divisional kingpin Jon Jones.

“Poatan” vs. “Bones” is a match up that makes sense in many ways. For one, it’s two of the largest active stars in the sport currently. Secondly, the two are the official champions in their respective divisions. Given that Pereira is somehow always the biggest person in the room and has nearly cleared out the 205-pound ranks, a jump into the Heavyweight title mix doesn’t sound unreasonable for the Brazilian knockout artist.

Generally, Pereira and Jones have been quite respectful towards one another, and Tom Aspinall is lurking as the obvious next foe at Heavyweight. For those reasons, the match up hasn’t yet really been demanded by fight fans, though it was discussed as an option prior to Jones beating up Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. Since then, talks have quieted, as Jones considers retirement or an Aspinall payday as his next move.

Well … “Poatan” still wants the fight. He revealed in an interview with Ariel Helwani that he recently talked with Jones about the potential match up, and he believes his name is a better one for Jones’ legacy than Aspinall.

“I’m the champ, I want to fight the champ. Let’s make the fight with Jon Jones … Before Jon’s last fight, we actually talked about fighting.” Alex Pereira stated through a translator (via Josh Evanoff). “More random talk, not too much about fighting. [He’s] not a friend or someone I talk with on the regular, but someone I respect. I know he respects me, and there’s mutual respect.”

He continued, “I think [Jon wants to fight me], because of the momentum and the risk, it’s a risk fighting Aspinall. There’s not a lot to gain there, it’s another title fight. But fighting Alex is much bigger achievement… It’s a bigger fight. We saw the fight [with Stipe] later. It was an impressive win and impressive performance.”

Indeed, Jones vs. Pereira would be massive bout that could move a lot of pay-per-view (PPV) buys. However, there might be an outright riot if Aspinall is left sidelined longer. Either way, Jones certainly has some leverage at the negotiation table, because either booking could be one of the biggest of 2025.

Insomnia

Dricus Du Plessis reminds me of Joe Benavidez in that his offense isn’t classically correct, but he nevertheless is effectively able to attack every level on the feet, wrestle, and submit his opposition. It’s a lot for his opponents to consider!

Charles Oliveira sharpening up his Muay Thai with a legend:

Israel Adesanya brought a kickboxing schedule mentality to his UFC championship reign.

I saw debate regarding prime TJ Dillashaw vs. prime Merab Dvalishvili, and man … what a fight that would be!

If you didn’t watch clips of the GFL draft, it’s pretty much the funniest nonsense in MMA history. A source told me they have funding for at least one full season, so hopefully there’s more amusement ahead.

Khabib may have been a pretty special fighter …

This bit of context behind why Merab showboated after every high crotch dump takedown is spectacular.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

The kryptonite check hook?

A great example of “it only takes one punch to change a fight.”

Closing a round with style points:

Random Land

I have plenty of friends who have done Lasik, but the concept is still scary.

Midnight Music: Until today, I had no idea this song wasn’t written by Big Black.

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.