Blind Ref Said What to Sam Darnold After No-Call Facemask Penalty Ended Vikings vs Rams…?

Sam Darnold - Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Rams
Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings lost to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football, this week. Now, fans are in a semi-panic over their team, entering the weekend. No, the referees weren’t the biggest reason behind last night’s loss, but they were definitely in the losing equation.

Minnesota Vikings vs LA Rams: Bad night for NFL referees

Three different times, on third down, LA was gifted three more downs via Vikings penalties. Some of the calls were so brutal that it left the Prime Video broadcast crew wondering who some of the calls were against, and if the refs got their number wrong. Like this “hold” by Byron Murphy Jr…

But those drive-saving gifts to the Rams weren’t even the worst part about the zebras’ performance Thursday. No, that came at the very end of the game. With the Minnesota Vikings down 8 points, and backed up into their own endzone, things got weird.

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Sam Darnold dropped back, tried to scramble to his right, before he was ripped down in the endzone by the left side of his facemask. The guilty party was LA Rams pass rusher Byron Young.

It was one of the most clear and obvious facemask penalties on a QB that you have ever seen. Unfortunately, the refs were momentarily blinded by the bright lights of Los Angeles, and “didn’t see” the egregious penalty.

After the game, referees stood defiantly behind their call. Their excuse? That none of the SEVEN on-field refs saw the penalty take place. This, even though at least three of them were staring directly at the penalty when it happened.

Thus, the Rams got their two points for a safety. And just like that, it was a two-score ballgame, ending any hope the Minnesota Vikings had at a late comeback.

Referee tells Sam Darnold he was pulled down by his shoulder pad…

One day later, there are videos and photos everywhere, analyzing just how a call this obvious was missed. By referees who are supposed to be the best in their business, at that. In the frenzy to find the best possible shot of zebra misconduct, Michael Rand (Star Tribune) clipped a slow motion video of one referee talking to Sam Darnold, immediately after the Vikings QB pulled himself up off the artificial SoFi stadium turf.

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It happens at the very end of the video he posted to Twitter. In the clip, you see Darnold grab his facemask and yell back at the ref, “FACEMASK”. Immediately after, the ref comes in from the left side of the screen and you can clearly see him mouth, “SHOULDER”. Obviously, he is implying that Sam was ripped down by his shoulder pads, not facemask. To that, Sam yells, “NOOO!”.

The most frustrating part about last night’s call, beyond the fact that it ended any chance the Minnesota Vikings had at mounting a late-game comeback, was the cockiness of which the refs acted, after the play. Every single person in that stadium knew it was a facemask, except for the referees.

Instead of getting together and making the obvious call, even if it was after the fact, they acted as if they were right and the entire football world was wrong. Then, after seeing they were wrong on video, after they game, all they have to say is, ‘we didn’t see it’.

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Yeah, ok… well that’s why everyone was screaming at you to look at the damn jumbotron, so they could be let in on the secret too.

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