For Minnesota Vikings fans, the Week 8 game against the Los Angeles Rams was extremely frustrating. Not only did the purple and gold come up short on the scoreboard but they lost starting left tackle Christian Darrisaw for the season.
As if those two things weren't enough, there was a missed facemask penalty in the closing minutes that was obvious to anyone watching at home or within eyesight, but was not called by the officials on the field and resulted in a safety.
NFL just made terrible Sam Darnold no-call vs. Rams in Week 8 even worse
Seeing Sam Darnold's head get turned by linebacker Byron Young was enough to make any Vikings fan cringe and hope the quarterback's neck wasn't injured. Although Minnesota wasn't likely to drive down the field in the remaining time to get a touchdown and two-point conversion to force overtime, the safety ended any hope of the purple and gold getting an opportunity to try.
The missed call was met with one of the weakest statements about how he "didn't get a good look" at the yank of the facemask. Referee Tra Blake and umpire Carl Paganelli insist they "did not see it" despite replaying the video can show lines of sight.
To make matters even more insulting, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero shared on X that the NFL fined Rams linebacker over $7,000 for the unflagged facemask grab, giving even more validity to the frustration of Minnesota Vikings fans.
The NFL fined #Rams LB Byron Young $7,014.19 for grabbing #Vikings QB Sam Darnold’s facemask last Thursday night.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 2, 2024
No flag was thrown, and the resulting safety sealed L.A.’s win.pic.twitter.com/bAbSRBrNkj
Thankfully, Sam Darnold was able to walk away from the play without a serious injury and is expected to start in Week 9 against the Indianapolis Colts. Despite those positives, it is hard to look back at that Thursday Night Football game without having a bad taste in your mouth.
While it is good that the player received punishment for twisting Darnold's head around, there also needs to be better accountability for the officials. Although that glaringly missed call likely wouldn't have changed the outcome of the game, it is important to get as many calls on the field correct as possible and watch for potentially dangerous activity like what happened in Week 8.
Let's hope the referees on Sunday Night Football will do a better job of observing the game when the Minnesota Vikings take on the Indianapolis Colts in Week 9 because what happened against the Rams is inexcusable.