You made a good argument and then blew it up with this, lol.
There is absolutely bias towards and against certain teams. It may be subconscious or purposeful, there's no way to tell for sure. People like winners. The NFL is no different. In a game a single wrong call by the refs can mean the difference between a loss or a win.
The Raiders vs. the Patriots 'Tuck Rule" game is but one example. Had that been called correctly, the Patriots would never have faced the Rams in the Super Bowl and their whole sickening dynasty might have been avoided.
The whole point of my rant in this thread is that lousy, biased refs can screw up a game. Yes, the Rams were poorly coached but the refereeing didn't help.
I know I was destroying my own point....so, I added the HAHA.....
A couple of prime examples to me were the Seattle Atlanta game and Seattle Buffalo games from last year. They for sure let stuff go in Seattle more than on the road.
The tuck rule is an interesting one.
I have a friends father who was a 35+ ref who insists that was called correctly.
As an aside, watched a bit of the Lions game Sunday. Saw Grob (looked generally ok) get away with a couple that he would have sure been called for with the Rams.
Intentional or subconscious? Like you said, no way of knowing.