NFL Refs Explain the Missed Face-Mask Penalty on Game-Sealing Play in Vikings' Loss

A reporter asked an official about why a flag was not thrown late in the fourth quarter.

Darnold was sacked in the end zone for a safety with 1:42 to play on Thursday night. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

NFL official Tra Blake addressed the late-game controversy that arose Thursday night from a missed face-mask penalty in the Los Angeles Rams' 30–20 win over the Minnesota Vikings at SoFi Stadium.

The Rams secured the victory when linebacker Byron Young sacked Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold in the end zone for a safety with 1:42 remaining. No flag was thrown on the play, but replays revealed that Young clearly grabbed Darnold's face mask, which should've resulted in a 15-yard penalty and an automatic first down for Minnesota.

"Well, on that play, the quarterback was facing the opposite direction from me so I did not have a good look at it," Blake, who has refereed NFL games since 2020, said after the game to a pool reporter. "I did not have a good 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 look at it. He was blocked out as well.

"So that was the thing, we did not see it so we couldn't call it. We couldn't see it."

Darnold was visibly upset after the no-call, as was coach Kevin O'Connell and the rest of the Vikings' offense.

"On the field we definitely did discuss it because they did bring up a concern," Blake said. "We discussed it as a crew, but we weren't able to see it on the field so we weren't able to make that call."

If that flag was thrown, there are no guarantees, of course, that Minnesota would've tied the game up with a touchdown and two-point conversion. But the Vikings deserved to have a shot.

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