Terrible missed Sam Darnold face mask call mars end of Rams vs. Vikings - Field Gulls

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Sam Darnold was definitely not face masked by Byron Young, apart from being clearly grabbed by the face mask.

Watch out, here come the Los Angeles Rams.

We’ve been here before. Last year the Rams were 3-6, beat the Seattle Seahawks for a second time, and stormed past them to finish 10-7 and make the playoffs. Banged up beyond belief this season, Sean McVay’s team has almost clawed their way back from a 1-4 start and find themselves at 3-4... but not without controversy.

Up 28-20 against the Minnesota Vikings with less than two minutes to go, the Rams backed Minnesota near its own goal line. On 2nd and 10, Sam Darnold took way too long to decide something in the pocket, and he was sacked in the end zone by Byron Young. Safety dance, game over, Rams win 30-20.

Except the game shouldn’t have been over, and Minnesota should’ve had 15 yards and an automatic first down.

Byron Young has a fine incoming for the blatant facemask officials missed. Small price to pay for a game-sealing play that changes a lot of things for the #Rams. pic.twitter.com/bAbSRBrfuL

Dawg that ref had eye contact with Sam Darnolds head doing a 180 degree turn and said all good gang you got it pic.twitter.com/L2U5kvxYWS

On a night when Minnesota was flagged for five drive-extending penalties on defense, it’s the Rams who should’ve given the Vikings new life. Young clearly grabbed Darnold’s face mask, and Darnold was adamant in pleading his case to the officials that he was face masked. No flag was thrown, and the NFL does not make face mask penalties reviewable.

It’s worth acknowledging that the Vikings still had 80+ yards to go and needed a touchdown and two-point conversion (with no timeouts) just to force overtime. But stranger things have happened, and the Vikings got jobbed by bad officiating.

I can understand the NFL not wanting to make subjective calls like pass interference reviewable, but face mask penalties are just about always clear as day. You either grabbed the face mask or you didn’t. This has to be something the Competition Committee looks at in the offseason, because this is an easily correctable mistake for the replay center.

The bigger picture is that the Rams are now just one game back of the Seahawks, with Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua both returning to the lineup and looking as formidable as ever. Matthew Stafford threw four touchdowns while a struggling defense held the Vikings out of the end zone in the 2nd half. They’re getting healthier and they’re showing why they’re not to be written off just yet. We can probably shelve Kupp trade talks, too.

I know the Seahawks have the Buffalo Bills this weekend but the Rams game the following week has heightened stakes now. Seattle can’t really afford an 0-2 start in the NFC West when the Arizona Cardinals have won two division games and the Rams have beaten the San Francisco 49ers. That’s a virtual must-win for Seattle entering the bye, or else the Seahawks could just as quickly go from first to last in this tightly packed division race over the next two weeks.

1.) Seattle Seahawks (4-3, 0-1 DIV)2.) Arizona Cardinals (3-4, 2-0 DIV)3.) Los Angeles Rams (3-4, 1-1 DIV)4.) San Francisco 49ers (3-4, 1-2 DIV)