NFL Fans Rip Refs for Missed Facemask Penalty on Rams’ Young as Darnold, Vikings Lose

Andrew PetersOctober 25, 2024

Ric Tapia/Getty Images

The Thursday Night Football matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams ended with a bit of controversy.

As the Vikings looked to rally down eight in the final minutes, Sam Darnold was brought down for a safety, but the officials appeared to miss a facemask penalty. Instead of getting a flag and the ball back, Minnesota went down 30-20 and the Rams walked away with a win.

Bleacher Report @BleacherReportMissed facemask call?? 🤔

Rams sack Sam Darnold for a safety and the game is over. pic.twitter.com/Rnd81DE5ZS

After the game, fans ripped the officials for missing what seemed to be an obvious call.

JJ Watt @JJWattCan’t see a facemask 3 feet in front of them, but we want refs to decide what is and isn’t a “hip drop” tackle in real time.

😂😂

Andy Herman @AndyHermanNFLListen, I love the Vikings losing as much as the next normal, sound-minded individual, but if you have the ability to make immediate replay adjustments from upstairs, there’s absolutely zero reason why they shouldn’t be able to radio down and say, “yo, call the facemask.”

ProFootballTalk @ProFootballTalkFacemask must be reviewable.

Chris Mangano @ChrisManganoRefs call 10,000 penalties tonight but miss an obvious facemask in the biggest moment

Daniel Dopp @DanielDoppYou’d think the NFL would be embarrased to have an island game end on such an obvious penalty that for some reason isn’t reviewable… what’s the point of replay assist if it’s not to fix such an obvious, game-altering call?

Everyone BUT the refs saw the facemask 🤷🏼‍♂️

Bad Sports Refs @BadSportsRefsGame ending safety on a sack by a missed facemask that they can’t review

Just another primetime NFL game 🤣

Paulos @LoswitheMosThe refs watching Sam Darnold get his facemask yanked by the Rams defender pic.twitter.com/YxUGqwFE3h

RoseA @RoseA80Seriously, missing a face mask on a sack in the endzone is blatant cheating. Even the linemen thought it was against him

Ryan Megee @RMegee12If that was Patrick Mahomes there would have been a flag for a facemask before he even hit the ground

Fathead @JDF11282993a game-ending safety on a flagrant face mask 😂 and no call! #skol

After the game, Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News asked referee Tra Blake what the officiating crew saw on the safety.

“Well, on that play, the quarterback was facing the opposite direction from me so I did not have a good look at it,” Blake said. “I did not have a look, and I did not see the facemask being pulled, obviously. The umpire had players between him and the quarterback, so he did not get a look at it. He was blocked out as well. So that was the thing, we did not see it so we couldn’t call it. We couldn’t see it.”

Darnold, Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell and other members of the team complained to the officials which led to a discussion, but Blake said they couldn’t throw a flag because the referees “weren’t able to see it on the field.”

Blake also clarified that the play was not reviewable.

While the Vikings and their fans are upset about the missed call, there’s nothing they can do now other than move on to next week’s matchup against the Indianapolis Colts. Luckily for Minnesota, its hot start to the season means a loss isn’t necessarily detrimental to its playoff hopes.