Vikings defensive touchdown overturned on strange play against Rams

The Vikings had a defensive touchdown wiped off the board in odd fashion in Monday night's playoff game against the Rams.
On a play early in the second quarter, Jonathan Greenard got to Matthew Stafford and was in the process of sacking him when Stafford backhand flipped the ball in front of him before hitting the grass. Blake Cashman scooped it up and raced to the end zone for what appeared to be a game-tying touchdown.
The ruling on the field was a fumble. But upon replay review, it was overturned and ruled as an incomplete forward pass. There was also no penalty for intentional grounding, even though it's about as "intentional grounding" as it gets, at least based on the definition of those two words. Because grounding wasn't called initially, it couldn't be added after review, according to ESPN's rules analyst.
Incomplete pass or touchdown?? Stafford says he threw this forward. pic.twitter.com/826KfclEUK
— Rate the Refs App (@Rate_the_Refs) January 14, 2025
The broadcast showed Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell visibly irate on the sideline after the ruling was overturned. Whether his complaint was with the pass/fumble determination or the lack of a grounding penalty (or both) is unclear.
The Rams led the Vikings 10-3 at the time of the play. Follow along for live updates here.
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