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Kevin Seifert, ESPN staff essayist
INGLEWOOD, California – A face mask visible on Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold was not penalized in the fourth quarter Thursday night at SoFi Stadium because the disallowing official had a clear view of the games, referee Tra Blake told puddle reporter later the sport.
Broadcast replays showed Los Angeles Rams linebacker Byron Young grabbing Darnold’s masks and throwing him into the grass area for a sack and a safety, giving Los Angeles a dominant 30-20 hold with 1 insignificant, 46 seconds more in the game. The game ended with the same score.
According to the basic principles of NFL officiating, the referee has the number one responsibility for fouls involving hits on the quarterback.
“The quarterback was looking in the opposite direction from me, so I didn’t get a good look at him,” Blake said. “I didn’t take a look and obviously I didn’t see my mask being taken off.”
Referee Carl Paganelli had secondary responsibility for making the decision. But it was also banned, according to Blake.
“The referee had players between him and the quarterback, so he couldn’t get a good look,” Blake said. “He was blocked too. So that was the issue. We didn’t see it, so we couldn’t declare it.”
Games are not reviewable, according to NFL regulations.
Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said he wouldn’t count the overlooked shout as a reason for losing the game.
“It looked like he had a good amount of mask in there,” O’Connell said. “I’m not going to get into the call, or the non-call, or all that. I talked to our team, the referees and all that… so that we can talk about it, so that we can seek solace in that. That’s not how we’re going to respond to this. It’s just not going to happen. I’m going to do the same thing now. I don’t really have any comment on that mask, but it didn’t seem that way to them, so they didn’t throw the flag.”
Darnold added: “The mask, it is what it is. I thought we could have done a lot to not put ourselves in the situation that we were in… So we have to continue to play better and not put ourselves in that position to begin with.”
