Refs Admit: Thielen’s Temper Tantrum May Have Been Warranted…

There’s no getting around it. The Minnesota Vikings had no business of winning the week 10 football game they played against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

It was the most undisciplined games Kevin O’Connell’s crew has played this season, which is saying something. For starters, the Vikings committed a total of 13 penalties worth a total of 102 yards, seven of which were false-start penalties.

Kid quarterback JJ McCarthy threw two interceptions and they turned the ball over three times, total. But the offensive play-calling might’ve been the most undisciplined part of yesterday’s loss.

The MN Vikings averaged 6.7 yards per carry vs Baltimore, gashing the Ravens defense just about every time they handed the ball off to Aaron Jones or Jordan Mason.

Tough day for Minnesota Vikings wide receivers

Meanwhile, when JJ McCarthy wasn’t throwing the ball to the other team in purple, he was throwing it into the dirt or (sometimes) into the stands. In the end, his inefficiency led to a < 50% completion rate, as he dropped back and winged it a career-high 42 times (20 completions).

Then, there’s Justin Jefferson, who looked disengaged and frustrated for most of the afternoon. Of course, he was nowhere near as frustrated as Adam Thielen, whose latest sideline meltdown has to fall in the top 5 on a career fully charged with emotional moments at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Adam Thielen is upset after that penalty

📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/e295ZSpPti

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) November 9, 2025

What in the world could cause our darling Adam to lose his cool (again) against the Ravens? It came after he was called for a blindside block during the fourth quarter, as the Vikings were trying to come back from a 19-10 deficit.

A closer look at Adam Thielen’s “blindside block”

According to the NFL rulebook, offensive players who are moving parallel or back toward the line of scrimmage are not allowed to block a defensive player with force, which is a key part of the conversation.

The rule was made to rid the league of Hines Ward-style blindside blocks that used to leave safeties and cornerbacks wondering what reality they originated from.

Of course, Theilen’s was not that, but he certainly did square up and launch slightly into an unexpecting Kyle Hamilton, which resulted in him being completely laid out.

Adam Thielen and the Vikings are pissed! This was called a personal foul for a blindside block… pic.twitter.com/M1SnIpkOxK

— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) November 9, 2025

Related: Asante Samuel Jr Visit is Not What You Think…

There’s no doubt, as you can see in the video above, that Adam Thielen was indeed parallel with the line of scrimmage and blocking an unexpected defender. But was he protecting himself or was it a dirty block?

Postgame, Adam was still frustrated, noting that the Minnesota Vikings offense had practice that play all week, to make sure that he would not be called for a blindside block.

Refs admit to MN Vikings, Adam Thielen they aren’t sure either

More importantly, Thielen told Andrew Krammer (Star Tribune) in the Vikings locker room that the refs approached him after the game and told the 12-year veteran that they needed to go back, review the play, and get proper instruction from the league on whether or not they made the correct call.

“Obviously, [Adam Thielen] still was pretty heated after the game. And he had just mentioned that, look, we coached it. We actually got the exact look from the Ravens we were anticipating. If Kyle Hamilton was within one yard of the line of scrimmage, I knew I could stand there and wall him off.

He said, but it wasn’t as vicious as it looked on camera where it does kind of look like his head kind of contacts Kyle’s head. He said, ‘I have to defend myself. I can’t just stand there and get runover’… I think he used the word destroyed. ‘I can’t sit there and just get destroyed.’

So the refs told him, ‘You were too aggressive and you needed to just wall him off and not give any little bit of a shot at him. Yet the officials came up to him [after the game] and said, ‘We need to go check with the league about officiating that call. We need to just clarify this specific play, what you did, and make sure we were right on it.’

It sounded like even after the game, officials were still not sure.

Andrew Krammer – Access Vikings Podcast (Star Tribune)

While I appreciate the referees being open and honest about what they know and do not know… I feel like this was a pretty important call to throw a flag on, if you weren’t 100% sure on the rule. My guess, that’s very much how Adam Thielen is feeling too.”