NFL Refs Blatantly Screwed Up The Simplest Rule During Wild Card Game, And Somehow Nobody Noticed Until Now [VIDEO]

The NFL refs made an awful mistake during the Los Angeles Rams-Carolina Panthers Wild Card Round game last week. To make the matter more peculiar? It was just brought to light.

Matthew Stafford and the Rams outlasted Bryce Young and the Panthers 34-31 in the Wild Card Round. Had Carolina won, there may have been more backlash against the NFL refs for making an inexcusable error during the game.

As every NFL fan knows, a team always kicks the ball off at its own 35-yard line. But for the start of the second half of the Panthers-Rams game? The ball was inexplicably placed at the Carolina 40 for kicker Ryan Fitzgerald.

🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨

The #Panthers – #Rams playoff game was botched entirely by the referees, per ESPN

The refs placed the ball at the 40-yard line for Carolina to kick the ball off to start the 2nd half.

Every time the ball is placed at the 35-yard line 😳pic.twitter.com/822aG28If8

— MLFootball (@MLFootball) January 19, 2026

Per ESPN’s Seth Wickersham, the Rams realized the gaffe later on. The Panthers never noticed it, Wickersham added:

“Spokespeople for both teams and the NFL declined to comment.

Sources with knowledge of the situation said that the Rams later realized the mistake — it’s unclear when — and that the Panthers didn’t realize it. Neither team addressed it with the NFL, the sources said.”

The Rams wound up punting on that drive. Carolina responded with a field goal, setting the stage for an epic back-and-forth final frame. Matthew Stafford hit Colby Parkinson for the late go-ahead touchdown. The Rams defense shut the door on Bryce Young to seal the win.

NFL Refs Have Made Several Head-Scratching Mistakes In The Postseason

The officials have been under fire aplenty this season. They made several curious calls in Saturday’s Divisional Round tilt between the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos on the home team’s game-winning drive in overtime. The calls were so bad that disgruntled fans thought the NFL refs “rigged” the game for Denver.

There was another moment where it appeared a referee refused to throw a flag in the Houston Texans-New England Patriots game because he was unable to find the flag in his belt.

Judgment calls are one thing. But inexplicably allowing Carolina to kick off at the 40 instead of the 35-yard line? The refs should have to answer to that one.

With only three games left in the season, let’s hope the officials aren’t a key talking point.