After a 5-0 start to the regular season, the Minnesota Vikings have suffered back-to-back losses, including a controversial ending against the Los Angeles Rams.
Minnesota’s offense took the field facing a 28-20 deficit with 1:42 remaining on the game clock and no timeouts. While the odds of the Vikings marching 95 yards down the field to tie the game were slim, an inexplicable missed call ended their comeback attempt prematurely.
Vikings’ Comeback Attempt Halted by Missed Face Mask Penalty
Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold dropped back to pass from the five-yard line and was spun down by Rams edge rusher Byron Young for a safety. It was clear on the broadcast that Young grabbed Darnold by his face mask to bring him down.
However, the referees managed to miss a potential game-altering penalty, despite Young even placing his own hands on his head following the play. It appeared as though Young immediately recognized his mistake while the referees failed to see it at all.
A game-sealing safety on what should've been a facemask call against the Rams.
"They cannot review that. But he definitely got the facemask (of Sam Darnold). " – Kirk Herbstreit
"Viking fans are going 'What the hell?!'" – Al Michaels #NFL #TNF 🏈🦓🎙️ pic.twitter.com/DbfLrhtXHr
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 25, 2024
If the referees called the penalty correctly, Minnesota would have been awarded 15 yards and remained in possession of the ball at the 20-yard line. However, the Vikings would still have to travel 80 yards down the field without any timeouts remaining.
In the postgame pool report, referee Tra Blake said no official had a good look at the face mask on the key sack/safety of Sam Darnold, so it could not be called.
Despite the controversial missed call sealing his team’s fate on Thursday night, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell took the high road when asked about the controversial play during his postgame press conference.
“It looked like he got a pretty good amount of face mask there,” O’Connell said. “I’m not going to get into the call or no-call or all that stuff.”
“I told our team, officiating and all that stuff, for us to talk about that, for us to seek comfort in that, is not how we’re going to respond to this. It’s just not going to happen.”
Why Was the Missed Face Mask Not Reviewable?
While the NFL continues to innovate and expand the league’s rulebook each season, Thursday night’s controversial missed call was not reviewable.
Before the start of the regular season, the NFL expanded the replay assist system to include three new in-game situations, yet missed face mask penalties were not included in the latest changes.
In addition to the nine existing in-game situations included in the NFL’s replay assist system, the three new changes included roughing the passer penalties, late hits out of bounds, and intentional grounding penalties.
Albert Breer of The MMQB pointed out the irony of the missed face mask penalty benefiting the Rams in Week 8. According to Breer, Los Angeles has sent proposals to the competition committee in each of the last three years to make face mask penalties on quarterbacks reviewable.
The irony in this missed call: The Rams sent proposals to the competition committee in each of the last 3 years to make penalties on facemasks to QBs, blows to the head and roughing the passer reviewable.
Shot down every time, and LA benefitted tonight. pic.twitter.com/zUlmMsWIFL
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) October 25, 2024
Luckily for the Rams, the NFL’s competition committee didn’t approve their proposals. It will certainly be interesting to see if Los Angeles proposes that change once again in 2025.
If the NFL continues its recent trend of expanding the replay assist system each offseason, it certainly feels as though missed face mask penalties should be added in 2025. While the Vikings were on the losing end of this unfortunate situation, it could force the NFL to make changes for the better moving forward.
