Refs blew 2 massive calls that could've killed Vikings in Buffalo
While the Minnesota Vikings emerged victorious from Buffalo Sunday, it didn't come without the refs blowing some big calls.
We know, we know, the Vikings won so why moan? Well considering it was extremely conceivable right up until Patrick Peterson's interception that the Vikings would lose, it's only fair to scrutinize some of the officiating.
Chief among the egregious calls was Gabe Davis' "catch" in the 4th quarter.
With the Vikings ahead 30-27 after the defense recovered Josh Allen's fumble in the end zone, Allen began leading Buffalo's march down the field when on 2nd-and-2 from their own 40 he connected with Davis for a 20-yard catch.
Officials didn't review this Gabe Davis catch 🧐https://t.co/vYTnTAU3AO
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) November 13, 2022
Despite it being a sideline catch with Davis falling out of bounds, neither the refs nor replay officials stopped the game to review the play. Being under two minutes, Kevin O'Connell didn't have the option to throw a challenge flag.
"It was right in front of me. Didn't think that was a catch. In that mode that needs to be something either is from up top or possibly from New York and we didn't get any clarification on that. I did ask," O'Connell said.
NFL Senior VP of Officiating Walt Anderson confirmed after the game that replay officials should've stopped the game and that had the play been reviewed, it would've been overturned to an incomplete pass.
In overtime, the Vikings moved the ball down to the Bills 2-yard line and had a first-and-goal when Dalvin Cook was stuffed for a 2-yard loss. Buffalo had 12 players on the field and the refs never noticed.
5:17 left in overtime, first and goal from the 2. The Bills have 12 men on the field and it was not called. pic.twitter.com/2cdXMedGjY
— Main Team (@MainTeamSports) November 14, 2022
A penalty there would've put the ball at the 1-yard line. Instead, Cook was stuffed and Kirk Cousins was sacked for a 10-yard loss on the next play and Minnesota wound up settling for a field goal.
If either of those plays are called accurately, Minnesota might not have had to sweat it out in overtime the way they did.
Related: Jefferson amazed by own catch, now thinking Super Bowl
Related: After win over Bills, Patrick Peterson assumes chains from Kirko
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.