Refs rob Vikings of safety with no call on Jared Goff's intentional grounding

The official claimed there was a receiver in the area.

Did the Lions get away with intentional grounding? / NFL/Sunday Night Football on NBC

Jared Goff and the Lions may have gotten away with intentional grounding in the first half of Sunday night's decisive game against the Vikings at Ford Field.

With the ball at their own 8-yard-line early in the second quarter, Goff dropped back and retreated into his end zone while under pressure from multiple Vikings defenders. As Ivan Pace Jr. hit him, Goff threw the ball into the turf right in front of him. After conferring with his crew members, lead official Brad Rogers announced that there was no foul for intentional grounding because there was a receiver (TE #89 Brock Wright) in the area.

On replay, that looks like a rather questionable ruling.

Yeah, that's intentional grounding pic.twitter.com/ujuwq1BHD3

— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) January 6, 2025

NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay believed it should've been a grounding penalty.

"He needs to throw it in the direction and vicinity of the receiver," McAulay said. "He doesn't throw it in the direction of 89 at all, he's throwing it away from 89. I really believe this should've been a foul for intentional grounding."

It would've been a safety if it had been called. Instead, the drive continued. Fortunately for the Vikings, they got a deflected interception five plays later, so the no-call didn't end up mattering much. Still, they had to settle for a short field goal, making it a 7-3 Lions lead at the time.

The officiating crew also arguably missed a facemask penalty on the Lions' defense earlier in the game.

Missed facemask again pic.twitter.com/FAPptWThWJ

— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) January 6, 2025

But a poor start from Sam Darnold, not the refs, is the main reason why the Vikings trailed 7-3 at the time of this story's publication.

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