November 7, 2024

Brighton Journal

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Vikings-Rams ‘Thursday Night Football’ game ends with blatantly missed penalty by wearing a face mask

Vikings-Rams ‘Thursday Night Football’ game ends with blatantly missed penalty by wearing a face mask

The Los Angeles Rams’ final snap in a 30-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday was a fairly obvious missed call.

Down eight points with 1:46 remaining and no timeouts, the Vikings had to travel 95 yards for a TD and make just a two-point conversion to send the game into overtime. They didn’t get far, as Rams linebacker Byron Young overcame two blockers to sack Sam Darnold and secure a safety.

However, it was abundantly clear just watching the play that Young had brought down Darnold by grabbing his facemask and grabbing it, which should have provided new life for the Vikings with a 15-yard penalty.

The additional replay reinforced how bad the missed call was. Darnold’s head was pulled 90 degrees to the left during the takedown:

Unfortunately, penalties for wearing a face mask are not reviewable.

The penalty was so obvious that Young grabbed his head after the play as if he had committed a foul, rather than sealing the game in Los Angeles’ favor. Instead, the Rams got two points and the ball, kneeling down the clock to end what was a rare competitive Thursday Night Football game.

You know it’s a huge mistake when the officials don’t even try to deny it after the game. Talk to a pool reporterReferee Tra Blake basically said that none of the officials saw Young beat Darnold:

“Well, in that game, the midfielder was facing the opposite direction from me, so I didn’t get a good look at him. I didn’t look, I didn’t see the face mask being pulled, obviously the referee had two players.” “Between him and the quarterback, so he didn’t get a look at it, so that was it. We didn’t see it so we couldn’t see it.”

Vikings players and coaches were visibly unhappy when the replay was shown, and some of the NFL players watching weren’t happy either:

It should be noted that this play did not cost the Vikings the game, just the opportunity to make it a game again. Even if a facemask was called, Minnesota still had 80 yards to travel in 1 minute, 36 seconds, not to mention a two-point attempt and overtime. There were many reasons the Vikings lost, such as Matthew Stafford’s four assists.

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However, it’s a poor way to end a game, and an argument could be made that perhaps penalties for wearing a face mask should be reviewable. Then again, the most dramatic play the Rams were involved in was a push to make pass interference calls reviewable, and it ended up getting so bad that the NFL abandoned it after one season.