Call it like it is. Its a Chiefs world and everybody outside of KC is sick of them. The NFL is cooked.
Your two points are both correct, but A =/= B.
It's a Chiefs world because they won. If the Bills had won, it would be a Bills world. If the Ravens had won, it would be a Ravens world. If the Texans had made it through, we'd be talking about CJ arriving.
The NFL spends all day and night
manufacturing narratives. They come here and do it, they go to reddit and do it, they do it on ESPN, they do it on social media. There is no such thing as "independent media" when it comes to sports: the broadcast deals are all negotiated in such a way where the league and their media partners aren't just in bed together, they're the same entity. The point isn't to report the truth, the point is to create a narrative that gets people invested equally in both sides: 50% of people love the Chiefs, 50% of people hate them--and everyone is going to watch to see what happens.
If the Bills had won, everyone would be tuning in to see Josh choke/Josh succeed. Or Lamar. Or JD.
Pick any team in the league. Any of the 32. I bet you can think of what the narrative is for them. Who's the wackest team in the NFL for 10 years running? The Jags?
Is Treveor Lawrence it? Did Khan fire Balke too late?
You'll notice the difference between NFL and NBA narratives. NFL narratives focus on the future and end with a question mark; NBA narratives focus on the past and end with an exclamation point.
Is Josh Allen the MVP over Lamar?
vs
Lebron > Kobe
NFL is "let's see what happens on Sunday to answer this question." NBA is "who cares who played tonight, let's argue on Inside the NBA about last week's argument."
People (Bills fans) always say: when the Bills win, the media never eat their humble pie and say "ok, we disresepcted them, but they're legit."
OF COURSE THEY DON'T! THAT DOESN'T SELL.
THE BUFFALO BILLS BRAND IS LITERALLY LOSING AND BEING DISRESPECTED. THEY'RE LOVABLE LOSERS. IT'S WHY THEY GOT 57 MILLION VIEWERS FOR THAT GAME.
NFL calls by refs will always be subjective. But when you take the calls and THEN pass them through the "Buffalo is disrespected" lens, you get what we have right now, which is to say everyone that wanted them to win thinks they were cheated. And everyone who wanted them to win now ALSO wants the Chiefs to lose in the Super Bowl. Do you see?
Is there a single, solitary NBA narrative that you can point me to that carries any intrigue whatsoever with it, that will be reconciled on the court this season?
The NFL is the furthest thing from "cooked" in the world of entertainment. The NFL has 32 separate narratives going right now, that the entirety of Ameica is invested in. The modern day NFL is a world class example in creating a narrative and selling it back to customers. 95% of this board works for free, FOR THE LEAGUE, in reinforcing this cycle. Anyone who thinks this game was "rigged" is charitable in the sense that they are volunteering their time to do PR for the shield. Fascinating stuff. There isn't a sport in America that is within 25 years of catching them. They have been working this product since the 90s, and quite frankly, they've done it. They've created the most compelling sports soap opera ever known to man. It just is what it is at this point.