Team USA was cruising in San Francisco on Wednesday night. Then a video review changed everything. A referee reversed himself in real time, sending off one of the USMNT’s best players and leaving the Americans to survive the rest of the match a man down. The call didn’t sit right with a lot of people watching, and some of the loudest voices weren’t even soccer people. Patrick Mahomes and Jason Kelce were among the NFL stars who couldn’t stay quiet.

“Man, what……” Patrick Mahomes posted on X.

Folarin Balogun was enjoying one of his best performances until it all fell apart in the blink of an eye. Early in the second half Wednesday, the American forward stepped on Bosnia defender Tarik Muharemovic’s leg while battling for the ball, catching his ankle and foot with his cleats.

The referee Raphael Claus of Brazil let play continue at first, but VAR called him over for another look. A few minutes later, Balogun was walking off the field with a red card in the 64th minute, and just about every USMNT fan watching had the same reaction. So did some of the biggest names in the NFL.

Jason Kelce didn’t hold back on X.

“Man, somebody help me.  That foul looked incidental from Balogun; shouldn’t a Red Card be given if there is either intention to foul, or an action that is aggressive and unsafe in nature?  Didn’t feel like Balogun was out of control or anything, just looked like it kind of happened,” he wrote, before breaking down exactly why the call felt off to him.

JJ Watt kept his response short and sarcastic, joking about needing the phone number for FIFA’s red card appeal hotline. Shannon Sharpe went with pure disbelief, calling it “bulljive” before rallying the U.S. to answer with another goal.

Tone Digs didn’t bother hiding his frustration either, dropping an incredulous “you gotta be kidding me.”

The frustration made sense given the moment. Balogun had given the U.S. a 1-0 lead just before halftime, his third goal of the tournament, and could only watch in disbelief as his teammates played out the rest of the match after being down to 10 players. Somehow it didn’t matter. Malik Tillman buried a free kick to make it 2-0, and the U.S. held on for the win.

There’s a bigger cost coming, though. Balogun is expected to sit out the USMNT’s round-of-16 matchup against Belgium, and fans flooding the replies aren’t shy about their theory why the call went the way it did. A lot of them think officials just don’t want to see the Americans go too far in their own tournament.