Patrick Mahomes Seen Trying to Keep Rashee Rice Away From Refs After Taunting Call

The Chiefs cruised to an easy win over the Commanders on Monday night in a game that thankfully didn't include much officiating controversy—not that Patrick Mahomes and Co. needed any help from the men in stripes.

Mahomes started his first two drives of the game with two interceptions but then kicked things into a higher gear, helping the Chiefs' offense put up 21 unanswered points in the second half to clinch the 28-7 home victory.

Mahomes's special on-field connection with wideout Rashee Rice was yet again on full display Monday night, as Rice caught all nine of his targets for 93 yards and a touchdown in his second game of the season. Rice also came away with a lowlight after he picked up a taunting penalty late in the contest for appearing to toss the ball at Commanders defensive back Quan Martin's head.

Rashee Rice flagged for taunting for throwing the ball at Martins head pic.twitter.com/ONbh3hkk99
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) October 28, 2025

Rice seemed to want to argue with the refs after the taunting call, but Mahomes swooped in and made sure to shield Rice from any further interaction with the officials, as seen in an in-game video shared by ESPN. Mahomes instead spoke to the ref himself for a little bit before accepting the call (and the 15-yard loss), and play resumed as usual.

It was nice to see the Chiefs captain looking out for his teammates.

Rice later explained that he was trying to throw the ball to a nearby official, and not at the Commanders player's head, though Reid didn't look too convinced by Rice's excuse:

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

But, a different angle of the play does show the Commanders defender standing in between Rice and the intended ref, so the whole thing may have been slightly blown out of proportion, anyway.