Referees say they couldn't see the facemask penalty near the end of the Vikings-Rams game

The Minnesota Vikings missed their comeback chance against the Los Angeles Rams on “Thursday Night Football” after officials overlooked a face mask violation by Rams linebacker Byron Young late in the fourth quarter.

1:46 left in the game, Young pulled Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold's face mask and knocked him down in the end zone, resulting in a sack and safety and sealing the Rams' 30-20 win.

During the postgame pool report, referee Tra Blake said the officials did not see the infraction.

“On that play, the quarterback was facing the opposite direction of me, so I couldn’t get a good look at him,” Blake said. “I wasn’t looking and of course I didn’t see the face mask being taken off. The referee had players between him and the quarterback, so he didn't get a look at it. He was also hidden.

“So that was the thing. We didn't see it so we couldn't call it. We couldn’t see it.”

Blake explained that the officiating crew discussed the call after she missed it.

“We definitely discussed it locally because they expressed concerns,” Blake said. “We discussed it as a team but we couldn't see it on the field so we couldn't make a decision. … (The piece) is not reviewable.”

The Vikings lost their second straight game, falling to 5-2, while the Rams improved to 3-4.

Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell said he didn't want to think about the missed call.

“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 or no-calls or all that stuff. I've talked to our team, about officiating and all that stuff… Talking about it, taking comfort in that, is not the way we're going to respond to it.”

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(Photo: Harry How/Getty Images)