Vikings-Rams 'Thursday Night Football' game ends with clearly missed face-mask penalty
The Los Angeles Rams' final touchdown in Thursday's 30-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings was a rather glaring missed call.
Down by eight points with 1:46 left and no timeouts, the Vikings had to travel 95 yards and convert a two-point conversion to send the game into overtime. They didn't get very far, as Rams linebacker Byron Young beat two blockers to sack Sam Darnold and score a safety.
However, it was pretty clear from the play that Young grabbed his mask and took down Darnold with a fumble, which should have given the Vikings new life with a 15-yard penalty.
Further replays only cemented how bad of a missed call it was. Darnold's head was pulled 90 degrees to the left when he was taken down:
Unfortunately, missed face-mask penalties are not reviewable.
The penalty was so obvious that instead of sealing the game for Los Angeles, Young held his head after the play as if he had made a mistake. The Rams instead got two points and the ball, kneeling the clock to end a rarely competitive “Thursday Night Football” game.
You know it's a bad mistake when the officials don't even try to deny it after the game. Speaking to a pool reporter, referee Tra Blake basically said no official saw Young take down Darnold:
“Well, on that play, the quarterback was on the opposite side of me so I couldn't see it very well. I couldn't look, and I obviously didn't see the mask pull. The umpire had the player. Between him and the quarterback, so he was blocked, so we Couldn't see it.
Vikings players and coaches were visibly displeased as replays showed, and some NFL players weren't thrilled either:
Can't see a facemask 3 feet in front of them, but we want the refs to decide what is and isn't a “hip drop” tackle in real time.
😂😂
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) October 25, 2024
There's no point in replaying if you're not using it to correct obvious mistakes
— Mal (@jamalagnew) October 25, 2024
The NFL should be ashamed the refs are terrible every week smh
— Kareem Jackson (@ReemBoi25) October 25, 2024
They can review almost everything but not call a game-ending face mask?
the wild
— Reed Ferguson (@SnapFlow69) October 25, 2024
It should be noted that this game did not cost the Vikings the game, a chance to make it back into the game. Even if the face mask was called, Minnesota could still travel 80 yards in one minute and 36 seconds, not to mention two-point attempts and overtime. There were other factors in the Vikings' loss, such as Matthew Stafford's four touchdown passes.
Still, it's a bad way to end a game, and an argument that the face-mask penalty should be reviewable. Then again, a more dramatic game on the same field at SoFi Stadium was the impetus for making pass interference calls reviewable, and it got so bad that the NFL abandoned it after one season.
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