Examining Some Controversial Referee Decisions From Vikings-Chiefs
During the Vikings' 27-20 loss to the Chiefs on Sunday afternoon, there were several decisions — either calls or no-calls — from the officiating crew that drew ire from Minnesota fans on social media. And also from Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell, who held back any referee criticism in his postgame press conference to avoid being fined.
"Want to be careful on this one," O'Connell said.
The Chiefs were called for ten penalties to the Vikings' four, but did the home team get the short end of the stick in multiple key moments? Let's go over some of the calls and non-calls that may or may not have been ruled correctly.
Officials pick up the flag on fourth down (and a couple other things happened)
This was the biggest moment of the game for the Vikings. Down 27-20 with just under five minutes on the clock, they faced a 4th and 12 from the Chiefs' 24 after taking a delay of game. Kirk Cousins dropped back and lobbed a ball to the end zone, in the direction of Jordan Addison, as he took a big hit.
The ball fell incomplete, but an official threw a flag for defensive pass interference after seeing L'Jarius Sneed make contact with Addison. The crew got together and made the decision to pick up the flag, ruling that there was no DPI on the play. Turnover on downs.
Adding to the frustration for the Vikings is that Sneed took his helmet off on the field to protest the initial call, which should've been a penalty. The CBS broadcast clearly showed O'Connell explaining that to an official. It wouldn't have given the Vikings a first down, but it would've pushed the Chiefs back towards their own end zone before the ensuing possession.
"Yeah, not much," an upset O'Connell said when asked what the refs told him about that play. "I clearly, when the flag came out in the first place, was not surprised in that moment that that was called a flag. You know, I guess trying to figure out where and when that veered the other way. But that was very unfortunate, as well as you know, the scenario there where not every player on the field had their helmet on, either."
Oh, and it sure looks like the Chiefs got away with illegal hands to the face on that very same play.
I'm not sure if Addison was actually interfered with on the play. O'Connell acknowledged that Addison should've attempted to play through the contact a bit more, which maybe could've led to the penalty sticking. The ball may or may not have been catchable. But to miss C.J. Ham nearly getting his helmet shoved off — and to not call Sneed for taking his own helmet off — won't sit well with the Vikings.
Smith called for DPI
This was another big decision on a critical fourth down. On a 4th and 1 from near midfield, the Chiefs went for it and Patrick Mahomes threw a ball deep for Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Harrison Smith was trailing the play and ran into MVS shortly before the ball arrived, leading to a DPI call. Five plays later, the Chiefs scored a touchdown that gave them a 27-13 lead.
It's a tough one. Smith appeared to tell an official afterwards that Valdes-Scantling grabbed him, instead of the other way around, but he also didn't get his head around to locate the football. Refs are usually going to give that call to the offense on under-thrown balls.
"I've got to go back and take a look at that one because a lot of times, I think, when you don't get your head around as a defender, it becomes a pretty quick trigger there," O'Connell said.
Watson's toe-tap upheld
There were a couple close plays benefiting the Chiefs that held up upon replay review. The first occurred late in the first half, when Justin Watson made what looked like a toe-tap catch along the sideline for 23 yards. It went to a review and stood, despite being extremely close. It almost looked like one of Watson's feet had come off the in-bounds grass by the time he secured possession.
The Chiefs went on to a kick a field goal to tie the game at the break.
Kelce's catch upheld
The second close play that stood after a review was a Mahomes pass to Travis Kelce on third down midway through the third quarter. Kelce went up and made a fantastic catch over Josh Metellus to move the chains. Metellus ended up with the football, but it was ruled that Kelce was down before losing the ball.
O'Connell challenged the play. It looked like the ball may have moved a little bit, but the call was not changed. That resulted in the Vikings losing their second timeout of the half less than halfway through the third quarter.
O'Connell said he has no regrets about his decision to challenge the play.
"I felt wholeheartedly that that was worth a challenge there based upon the evidence," he said. "It was always going to come down to whether they deemed that initial catch as two steps and a football move. We ended up with the ball on the play, as the receiver completed the catch to the ground. But you know, they're going to rule that. But I absolutely would challenge that again, given the circumstances and kind of what it was in that moment. At the very least, if it's ruled even an incompletion, we get the ball back."
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