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On Thursday evening, NFL officials missed Los Angeles Rams linebacker Byron Young grabbing Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold’s face mask en route to a sack in the end zone and a safety late in the fourth quarter, propelling L.A. to a 30-20 win.
Now comes word from Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio (after reaching out to NFL Vice President of Communications Brian McCarthy via email) that making face mask penalties reviewable will “likely” come up for discussion after the season.
“Yes, it’s likely that face mask will come up this offseason,” Brian McCarthy told Florio in an email Friday.
Florio asked McCarthy if the league’s Competition Committee would “review the situation” following the 2024 campaign.
“Instant replay and what plays should and should not be reviewable is part of the conversation every offseason, and it’s anticipated it will come up again,” McCarthy answered.
“Teams may propose a rule change and there have previously been a variety of proposals on which plays or if all plays should be reviewable.”
Thursday featured a crucial missed call that killed the Vikings’ chance to go the length of the field and tie the game at 28 before regulation ended.
Even though the face mask grab occurred during a scoring play, the penalty is not reviewable, and the Rams emerged victorious.
As Florio noted, “this change really is a no brainer,” and “there’s no valid argument against it.”
A hypothetical face mask review last night would have given the Vikings the ball with 1st-and-10 on their own 20-yard line, down 28-20 with 1:36 left.
Minnesota still needed go 80 yards for a touchdown with no timeouts (and convert a two-point conversion) for the tie, but at least the Vikings would have a chance.
Instead, it was game over for Minnesota as an exciting and competitive game ended with a disappointing thud.
Referee Tra Blake was closest to the play and was asked about the no-call afterward in a pool report, per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert.
“The quarterback was facing the opposite direction from me, so I did not have a good look at it,” Blake said.
“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 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.”
NFL officials can’t possibly see everything, of course, and human error is part of the game. The easiest way to rectify instances like last night’s no-call is a review for face mask, giving referees a much-needed backup.
So that figured to be a much-discussed talking point in the offseason. For now, though, the Vikings must move forward after the tough loss, dropping them to 5-2.
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