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There is an old adage in sports and life that it’s better to be lucky than good.
And that’s because, sometimes, it’s more about what you don’t do, than what you actually do.
Observe: The Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams (3-4, with all three wins coming at home) picked up a crucial 30-20 home win over a very good Minnesota Vikings team (now 5-2) on “Thursday Night Football,” but not without major controversy.
Up eight with just a little under two minutes left in the game, blossoming Rams pass rusher Byron Young effectively ended the game by sacking Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold in the end zone, which accounts for a two-point safety.
Only … Young was able to snag that game-sealing sack with one of the most blatant facemask yanks you’ll ever see:
this ref literally must be blind
staring RIGHT AT the face mask, no call pic.twitter.com/dwE3BzCBgL
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) October 25, 2024
(For the unaware, it is prohibitively illegal to tackle a football player via the facemask or horse collar.)
Do you often find issues with the officiating in your favorite sport?
Yes: 0% (0 Votes)
No: 0% (0 Votes)
And while most NFL fans saw the facemask, the referees in the nearby vicinity apparently did not, according to ESPN.
“The quarterback was facing the opposite direction from me, so I did not have a good look at it,” referee Tra Blake told reporters after the Thursday night tilt. “I did not have a look, and I did not see the face mask being pulled, obviously.”
Exacerbating matters, despite every possible replay angle showing Young’s blatant facemask pull, referees cannot change the call because you cannot challenge penalties.
And, ironically, that’s a rule that the Rams have been spending years trying to change.
“The irony in this missed call: The Rams sent proposals to the competition committee in each of the last 3 years to make penalties on facemasks to QBs, blows to the head and roughing the passer reviewable,” NFL reporter Albert Breer posted to X.
Now, had the Rams been successful in its rule change and the Vikings been granted yardage and an automatic first down on a penalty challenge Thursday, that alone obviously wouldn’t have given the game to Minnesota. (Darnold and crew would’ve effectively needed to score a touchdown with a two-point conversion to tie — which was not guaranteed.)
While that may all be a funny coincidence, many NFL fans found no laughing matter with the botched call — particularly in the wake of the proliferation of legalized sports gambling.
90% of the money in Vegas is on Minnesota tn so expect some dodgy officiating
— Edge (@SomethingEra2) October 24, 2024
“90% of the money in Vegas is on Minnesota [tonight] so expect some dodgy officiating,” one X user predicted.
Another X user also made mention of all that money being bet on the Vikings, and noting that “Vegas doesn’t sleep”:
Update:
this is what’s happens when 90% of the public has Vikings.
Vegas doesn’t sleep.
pic.twitter.com/rAz1UCkcMV— Gavin McHugh (@gavinmchughh) October 25, 2024
Another X user, a Vikings fan, demanded an investigation into the game.
The Vikings game should be investigated PERIOD. 80% of the money bet on the Vikings. Every 3rd down stop for the Vikings was a flag and automatic first down. The most pivotal moment of the game blatant face mask call not made in front of 2 refs to end the game.
— Kelly Boswell (@BITW3891) October 25, 2024
Given the NFL’s (and other leagues’) proximity to sports gambling, this sort of chatter is the last thing the league wants to hear.
The Vikings will look for better officiating (and a better outcome) when the team hosts the downtrodden Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 3.
The Rams, meanwhile, will look to get to .500 when it travels to face its NFC West rivals, the Seattle Seahawks.
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