NFL referees are far from perfect, and they made a pretty clear mistake that cost the Kansas City Chiefs 15 yards during their showdown with the Washington Commanders on Monday night.
During Monday night’s game, Chiefs star wide receiver Rashee Rice was hit with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after he appeared to throw the ball at the helmet of an opposing player, Washington safety Quan Martin.
Martin was walking away from Rice at the time and felt the ball hit him in the back of the helmet. He quickly turned to confront Rice and the official near the play threw a flag. However, it’s clear that the referees made a mistake.
As shown by the video of the incident, Rice was actually trying to toss the ball to the official, not throw it at the head of his opponent.
Rice trying to explain that he was throwing it to the ref and not at a players head pic.twitter.com/NoJCsk9W56
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) October 28, 2025
Rice can even be seen on the sideline afterward, explaining this to his head coach, Andy Reid.
The good news for everyone involved is that the call did not impact the end result of the game, as the Chiefs defeated the Commanders by a rather comfortable score of 28-7.
About Dave Kelsey
Contributing author to The Comeback.