NFL officials always make mistakes in the eyes of players and fans. That sentiment got even more fuel after the league admitted a blunder by the refs involving the Dallas Cowboys in Week 5 of the 2026 NFL season.
According to the league, officials mistakenly called a penalty on Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive lineman Calijah Kancey instead of Cowboys guard Tyler Booker. Kancey was called for illegal hands to the face, but it should have been the other way around, as explained by NFL officiating and rules analyst Walt Anderson.
NFL Admits Blunder in Cowboys-Buccaneers Week 5 Game
“Were going to have a foul called on No. 94 on the defensive team for illegal hands to the face,” Anderson said (h/t Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk). “The only action relative to any hands is really by the offensive player here. So this is the type of play that the Competition Committee has instructed officiating that if objective information in terms of just asking the officials, ‘Are we sure we have the right number of the player here?’ that we can end up assisting with this. Because it’s clearly not a foul by No. 94. If there is illegal use of hands, it’s obviously by No. 52 of the offense.”
In any case, that’s now in the past, and the Cowboys also didn’t have great memories of that game, with Dallas suffering a 24-16 loss to the Baker Mayfield-less Buccaneers at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. The Bucs actually were called for several more penalties than the Cowboys, 14-7, but Tampa Bay somehow found a way to win.
Dak Prescott threw for 316 passing yards and a touchdown with two interceptions in that game for the Cowboys, who also lost the following game in Week 6 at the hands of the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
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