In a league where player safety fines are handed out weekly, sometimes the most telling punishments are the ones that never arrive. During the Kansas City Chiefs’ 20-10 loss to Houston last week, there were plenty of calls that fans didn’t like. But one incident slipped past all the noise. Texans safety Jalen Pitre’s hit on Rashee Rice didn’t have the consequences many expected.

Every Saturday, the NFL releases its list of fines and punishments, and most people around the league assumed that the hit would show up. It didn’t. The league took no action.

Late in the third quarter, with under a minute to play, Rice was coming across the middle trying to secure a pass when Pitre closed fast and delivered a heavy shot. Rice was knocked backward and down hard. For a moment, he went limp after hitting the turf, which caught everyone’s attention. On replay, many thought Rice took contact to the head.

Former Chiefs lineman Mitchell Schwartz didn’t hesitate to weigh in.

“I know, I played for the Chiefs, the NFL is rigged, blah blah. Gets hit right in the face, it’s the definition of the penalty,” Schwartz wrote on X.

Not everyone saw it the same way. Some argued it was simply a hard hit that caught Rice in the shoulder. Still, like several moments from that game, it landed squarely in the gray area, and the lack of discipline is sure to keep the debate alive.

The league has already been facing criticism this season for what fans see as inconsistent enforcement. Eagles linebacker Zack Baun wasn’t fined for a hip-drop tackle on Giants rookie running back Cam Skattebo. And that pretty much ended Skattebo’s season and gave him a dislocated right ankle. So yeah, weird.

It’s worth noting: Pitre wasn’t the only Texans player who came out of that game without a fine.

Texans DE also escapes punishment

With 3:24 left in the first half of Chiefs–Texans, Patrick Mahomes rolled right, bought himself a little time, and flipped a short throw to JuJu Smith-Schuster for a first down. As the ball left his hand, Texans defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. reached out and caught Mahomes by the facemask. The flag came out pretty quickly and gave Kansas City a free 15 yards.

Once a play like that draws a flag, it usually doesn’t end there. The league almost always gives out a fine on Saturday. A first facemask offense can lead to a fine of up to $11,593, and repeat offenses can reach $17,389. When the NFL released its fines this week, the assumption was Edwards would be on that list.

That’s what made it surprising. Facemask penalties have been an easy fine for the NFL to hand out this year. Through the first 14 weeks of the season, the league has issued 34 facemask fines, totaling $319,281. Two of those went to Texans players alone: linebacker Christian Harris and cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. They were both fined $11,593.

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And Edwards doesn’t have a clean history here. Last season, he was fined $9,245 for a facemask against the Patriots. Two months later, he was hit with a $22,511 fine for roughing the passer, also against Mahomes. Given that track record, this one should’ve triggered that higher repeat-offender fine. The NFL chose to let it go instead.