Watch: Vikings robbed by blatant missed facemask

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) runs the ball against the Los Angeles Rams during the second half at SoFi Stadium. Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Watch: Vikings robbed of potential game-tying drive by blatant missed facemask

By Adam Gretz | Last updated Oct 24, 2024 11:37 PM ET

The Minnesota Vikings lost their second game in a row, dropping a 30-20 decision to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night.

They were also robbed of a chance to potentially tie the game late in the fourth quarter when officials missed what should have been an easy facemask call on the Rams.

With the Vikings trailing, 28-20, and backed up deep in their own territory, quarterback Sam Darnold was sacked in the end zone by Los Angeles' Byron Young for a game-clinching safety to give the Rams a 10-point lead.

The problem was Young clearly sacked Darnold by his facemask, only to have both officials positioned in the end zone not throw a flag on the play.

Have a look:

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

The wildest thing about the play and non-call is that if you watch Young's reaction immediately after the sacks, he seems to put his hands up to his head in frustration knowing that he got Darnold's facemask.

In the end, he got away with it and the Rams improved to 3-4 to keep their NFC West title hopes going for at least another week.

Not only would the Vikings have maintained possession of the ball, they would have had a free 15 yards and moved out of the shadow of their own goal posts.

With no timeouts and over 80 yards to go, along with needing a two-point conversion, the odds were not in their favor to tie the game. They still probably would have liked to have had the opportunity to try.

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on Twitter @AGretz

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