Refs Robbed Vikings DB Chandon Sullivan of Two Touchdowns Against Colts
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Vikings cornerback Chandon Sullivan had every right to be frustrated during Saturday's miraculous comeback victory over the Colts.
The game may not have needed to be as close and dramatic as it was, had Sullivan not had two fumble return touchdowns overturned on a pair of calls ranging from highly questionable to downright ridiculous.
Sullivan, a fifth-year veteran with one career touchdown, nearly tripled that total on Saturday. But both times, he looked back after running into the end zone and found that the officials had blown the play dead, negating his scores — with nothing the Vikings could do about it.
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The first came midway through the second quarter, with the Vikings already down 23-0 after a disastrous start. Matt Ryan threw a short pass to Michael Pittman Jr., who appeared to be fighting for extra yardage while Sullivan tried to bring him down. Roughly 2.5 seconds after the catch, while Pittman was still trying to fall forwards, Sullivan stripped the ball free, scooped it up, and ran it back for what he thought was a potentially momentum-shifting touchdown.
But an official had ruled that Pittman's forward progress was stopped.
“The ruling on the field was that the runner’s forward progress had been stopped," referee Tra Blake told pool reporter Chip Scoggins. "Once he’s wrapped up by the defender and his forward progress is stopped, the play is over."
"How do you determine when forward progress (ends)?" Scoggins asked. "Is there a certain amount of time?"
"Forward progress ends once the runner is not making progress towards his goal line any longer," Blake responded. "Once we determine that, the play is over."
It's a subjective call that cannot be challenged or reviewed. The play was closer than it seemed in the moment, but it still looks to me like Pittman was "making progress towards his goal line," to use Blake's phrasing, when Sullivan stripped the ball out.
The second one was much worse: a blatant, indefensible mistake by the officiating crew.
This time, the stakes were higher. It was a 36-28 game with 3:28 left in the fourth quarter and the Colts holding on to a lead that was once 33 points. Ryan handed the ball off to Deon Jackson, who had it popped out by Za'Darius Smith. Sullivan was in the right place at the right time to pick the ball up and easily run into the end zone with a convoy of teammates behind him.
This time, he had his touchdown.
Except the officials had blown the play dead again. For some inexplicable reason.
This was just a bad, bad missed call that could've been much more impactful had the Vikings not won the game in overtime anyways. The ball came out early, with Jackson completely upright, and Sullivan scooped it up without being down in any way.
"The original ruling on the field was that the runner that was in the pile was down by contact," NFL Senior VP of Officiating Walt Anderson said in the pool report. "Subsequently, a Minnesota player got it back. We had a look and could tell right away that the runner was still up when the ball came loose."
Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell challenged the play, and he was successful. Sullivan made a clear recovery, so the Vikings were given the ball. But, by rule, the officials couldn't give Sullivan the advancement of the ball, even after a successful challenge.
"By the time they challenged, we had good views," Anderson said. "We had an expedited review to announce that it was a fumble, and we had a clear recovery. But all we could do was give Minnesota the ball at the spot of the recovery."
Why not?
"It’s technically a dead ball when the officials rule that he’s down by contact," Anderson said. "The replay rules do allow you to award the defense the ball if that recovery is clearly a fumble and if that recovery is in the immediate continuing action from when the ball comes loose. But you cannot give an advance."
This time, the Vikings were furious. Sullivan spiked the ball down, took off his helmet, and had some choice words for the officials, picking up a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Patrick Peterson laid on the turf in disbelief.
"I kinda lost my temper," Sullivan said. "I feel like anybody would."
"I saw the ball come out right away," Peterson said. "I’m like 'C’mon ref, you can’t do it to us twice, man.' We always thought that you let the play play out so you can go back and review it and try to get it right that way. I just thought they was a little quick with the whistles all day today."
After the game, Sullivan went on Twitter to voice his displeasure and ask for an explanation. Beyond what was said in the pool report, it's unlikely he ever gets one.
The lesson here, for referees at all levels of football, is to stop blowing plays dead unless they are 100 percent certain a player was down or out of bounds or a pass was incomplete. If there's even a little bit of uncertainty, let the play unfold and review it to see what happened.
It happened last week in Detroit, too, when Justin Jefferson was arguably robbed of a touchdown because an official ruled he had stepped out of bounds.
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