The Los Angeles Rams’ final blow in a 30-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday had a rather obvious missed call.
Down eight points with 1:46 left and no timeouts, the Vikings had to travel 95 yards for a TD and make a two-point conversion to send the game to overtime. They didn’t get far, as Rams linebacker Byron Young beat two blockers to sack Sam Darnold and score a safety.
However, it was pretty clear that Young had taken Darnold down by grabbing his face mask and pulling, which should have given the Vikings new life with a 15-yard penalty.
Further replay only confirmed how bad of a missed call this was. Darnold’s head was pulled 90 degrees to the left when he was knocked down:
Unfortunately, fines for missed face masks cannot be reviewed.
The penalty was so obvious that Young clutched his head after the game as if he had made a mistake, instead of sealing the game for Los Angeles. The Rams instead received two points and the ball and kneeled out the clock to end what had been a rare competitive “Thursday Night Football” game.
You know it’s a big mistake when the referees don’t even try to deny it after the game. In fact, speaking to a pool reporter, referee Tra Blake said that none of the officials saw Young actually take Darnold down:
“Well, on that play, the quarterback was looking in the opposite direction from me, so I didn’t look at it closely. I didn’t look at it and I obviously didn’t see the face mask being pulled. The referee had players between him and the quarterback, so he didn’t get a view of it. He was blocked too. So that was the problem, we didn’t see it, so we couldn’t see it.
The Vikings players and coaches were visibly unhappy when the replay was shown, and some NFL players watching weren’t happy either:
I can’t see a face mask in front of them from a yard away, but we want the referees to decide in real time what is and isn’t a hip drop tackle.
😂😂
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) October 25, 2024
There’s no point in replaying if you don’t use it to correct obvious mistakes
— Mal (@jamalagnew) October 25, 2024
NFL should be ashamed of themselves, the referees are terrible every week
— Kareem Jackson (@ReemBoi25) October 25, 2024
They can judge almost everything else, but not a game-ending facemask call?
Wild.
— Reid Ferguson (@SnapFlow69) October 25, 2024
It should be noted that this play did not cost the Vikings the game, just the chance to make it a game again. Even if the face mask were called, Minnesota would still have 80 yards to cover in one minute and 36 seconds, not to mention the two-point attempt and overtime. There were many other reasons why the Vikings lost, such as Matthew Stafford’s four touchdown passes.
Still, it’s a bad way to end a game, and an argument could be made that perhaps facemask penalties should be reviewable. On the other hand, an even more dramatic play involving the Rams prompted the discussion of pass interference calls, which eventually became so bad that the NFL dropped it after one season.
