Referee explains Vikings-Rams' late non-compliance sacking Byron Young

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – An apparent facemask-wearing Minnesota Vikings quarterback, Sam Darnold, was left without a penalty late in the fourth quarter at SoFi Stadium on Thursday night because no official had a clear view of the play, referee Tra Blake told a pool reporter after the game .

Broadcast replays showed Los Angeles Rams linebacker Byron Young grabbing Darnold's facemask and throwing him to the ground in the end zone for a sack and a safety, giving Los Angeles a commanding 30-20 lead, 1 minute and 46 seconds before the end of the game.

According to NFL Principles of Officiating, the referee has primary responsibility for fouls that hit the quarterback.

“The quarterback was looking in the opposite direction of me. So I didn’t get a good look at it,” Blake said. “I wasn’t looking and I obviously didn’t see the face mask come off.”

Referee Carl Paganelli had secondary responsibility for the decision. But according to Blake, he was also blocked.

“The referee had players between him and the quarterback, so he couldn’t get a good look at it,” Blake said. “He was also faded out. So that was the thing. We didn’t see it, so we couldn’t call it.”

The play is not reviewable under NFL rules.

Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell said he would not use the missed call as an explanation for losing the game.

“It looked like he got quite a bit of face mask there,” O’Connell said. “I’m not going to get involved in the calls, no-calls or all that stuff. I've talked to our team, about officiating and all that stuff… so we can talk about it, so we can take comfort in that.” is not the way we're going to respond to this. I'm really not going to say anything about the face mask, but they didn't believe that, so they didn't throw the flag.

Darnold added: “The face mask is what it is. I thought there was a lot we could have done to not put ourselves in the situation we found ourselves in. … So we just have to keep playing better and not put us in that position from the start.