Controversial late missed penalty call overshadows LA Rams’ impressive victory over the Minnesota Vikings

By Ben Morse, CNN

(CNN) — A controversial late missed penalty call overshadowed the Los Angeles Rams’ impressive 30-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday Night Football.

With just over 90 seconds remaining in LA’s SoFi Stadium and the Rams leading by eight, Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold looked to pass from his own endzone as he attempted to start a comeback drive.

Darnold was tackled in his own endzone by Rams linebacker Byron Young for a sack and a safety to make it a 10-point game, but TV replays showed Young had grabbed Darnold’s face mask and twisted his head in an awkward manner.

The Vikings squad and sideline were incensed by what they thought was a missed face mask penalty call which would have allowed Minnesota to continue its drive, with receiver Justin Jefferson slamming his helmet to the floor in frustration. The Rams would go on to win by that 10-point margin.

After the game, lead official Tra Blake said the incident went unpenalized because none of his officiating crew had a clear look at it.

“The quarterback was facing the opposite direction from me, so I did not have a good look at it,” Blake told a pool reporter after the game, per ESPN. “I did not have a look, and I did not see the face mask being pulled, obviously.”

“The umpire had players between him and the quarterback, so he did not get a good look at it,” Blake said. “He was blocked out as well. So that was the thing. We did not see it, so we couldn’t call it.”

Blake also added that it was not a reviewable moment.

On the broadcast, commentator Kirk Herbstreit said Young “definitely” grabbed Darnold’s face mask and that the linebacker “got away with one.” Al Michaels concurred, adding that Vikings fans might be exclaiming “what the hell” after the missed call.

Afterwards, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said he thought Young “got a pretty good amount of (Darnold’s) face mask there.”

“(I’m) not going to get into the call or no call. I told our team officiating and all that stuff is not for us to talk about, that for us to seek comfort in that is not how we’re going to respond to this,” he told reporters.

“It’s just not going to happen and I’m going to do the same thing right now. I really don’t have a comment on whether it was a piece of face mask, but they didn’t think so. They didn’t throw the flag.”

The controversial ending came after a thrilling game where both teams moved the ball at will.

The Rams were bolstered by the return of their two star wide receivers, Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, after both missing weeks through injury.

Their addition to the starting lineup seemed to open everything up for Rams QB Matthew Stafford, who threw four touchdown passes – one to Kupp, one to Kyren Williams and two to Damarcus Robinson. Running back Williams also rushed for 97 yards on the ground.

Kupp and Nacua combined for 12 receptions for 157 yards – with second-year player Nacua accounting for 107 – as the Rams scored a season-high 30 points against the vaunted Vikings defense.

Afterwards, Stafford spoke about the importance of having his most important targets back in the line-up as the Rams improved to 3-4 on the season.

“It’s what you envisioned (for this offense) when training camp started and it’s nice to have those guys back,” Stafford told reporters. “I said it earlier, but I really do think it was great for our entire team. It was great for our offense, obviously.

“I was so happy and proud for those guys to be back out on the grass with us, but also really big for our defense, our special teams, (because) everybody feels that when those guys are back in.”

It was a special victory for Rams head coach Sean McVay who became the franchise’s all-time leader in wins (80).

For the Vikings, it was their second loss in four days after beginning the season 5-0. More concerning perhaps for Minnesota though is the potentially serious injury suffered by star left tackle Christian Darrisaw.

Darrisaw is one of the best at his position in the league and was ruled out of the rest of the game after suffering an injury late in the first half.

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