In the Minnesota-Detroit game, on the exhilarating final play, Parry had one player to watch -- quarterback Joe Webb. And while Webb floated to the left trying to make a play as time expired, Detroit linebacker DeAndre Levy grabbed Webb's facemask and twisted it. Clearly a flag should have been thrown. No flag. Levy sacked Webb, the ball was fumbled, it got kicked around, and the game ended.
What should have happened: The Vikings should have gotten an untimed final down from the Lions five-yard line (half-the-distance from the spot of the foul, which occurred at the 11).
The non-call could play a major role in the NFC playoff race. The Lions are 8-5. We'll never know if they should be 7-6. Now, who bears responsibility? Parry's sole job is to watch the passer, but the ref was shielded because Webb's back was to him. Bowers' job is to watch Toby Gerhart and action in the offensive backfield. So I'd say Parry should have been able to see the severe twisting of the helmet and assumed the only way it could have been jerked like that was grabbing the facemask ... and he should have been backstopped by Bowers. As it was, a huge call with playoff implications was missed.
SI.com's Peter King, in this week's edition of Monday Morning Quarterback, in naming John Parry, the referee from yesterday's game, as one of his "Goats of the Week."
6 months ago
Christopher Gates
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Blown Call
Clearly this was a blown called that screwed the Vikings, but the fact that it changes the playoff picture really magnifies it. (Assuming we won)
by NYVIKINGS65 on Dec 12, 2011 10:38 AM CST via mobile reply actions
I honestly can't get to mad about this
I like the Lions better than the Bears or Falcons for the Playoffs and it helps us get the #2 pick. Records reversed however and I would be insanely furious.
"Winning isn't everything but losing is nothing" - Ace Bricka coach of the Galaxy Aces
I am you
and he is me.
If we can't laugh at ourselves, Packer fans will call us crybabies and we will be forced to kick their tooth in. I really don't want to go to jail (again).
by Alittlemore_cowbell on Dec 12, 2011 1:28 PM CST up reply actions
We are all many
yet one at once.
"Winning isn't everything but losing is nothing" - Ace Bricka coach of the Galaxy Aces
That's whats wrong with the NFL today
“So I’d say Parry should have been able to see the severe twisting of the helmet and assumed the only way it could have been jerked like that was grabbing the facemask”
Your asking way to much of the NFL ref today, he was supposed to assume there was a facemask when he couldn’t even see the f*cking play. Let’s go on the flip side of that and say he throws a flag when he assumed a face mask occured but didn’t really happen, what happens then.
The NFL should just go ahead and make all game ending plays under review and even allow penalties that did or did not happen part of that process.
(though it will never happen) I agree with this.
Why isn’t everything reviewable? If something was wrong it should be able to be corrected. It would be like having to be caught in the act by a cop is the only way to be found guilty. Doesn’t matter if we caught it on camera and there were 100s of thousands witnesses. You had to be caught in the act and the whistle had to be blown on you, if not, you are scott free.
IF YOU THINK REEM SHOULD BE RATED ANY HIGHER THAN AROUND THE #5 HEAVYWEIGHT (AND THAT IS STRETCHING IT) THEN YOU ARE A FLIPPIN MORON, PLAIN AND SIMPLE.
by Edgecrusher71 on Dec 12, 2011 2:59 PM CST up reply actions
Yeah, so what?
This is a terrible excuse and I am tired of it. Your judgements um… can be wrong! Ever make a judgement call where you work and you were wrong then you had to rectify it? We now have the technology to prove wrong calls and it should be utilized to better the game.
IF YOU THINK REEM SHOULD BE RATED ANY HIGHER THAN AROUND THE #5 HEAVYWEIGHT (AND THAT IS STRETCHING IT) THEN YOU ARE A FLIPPIN MORON, PLAIN AND SIMPLE.
by Edgecrusher71 on Dec 12, 2011 3:30 PM CST up reply actions
by the way
With that head motion, it isn’t really an assumption. There is no legal play that causes the ball carriers head to twist back and down like that.
Hm...
I guess it’s just one of those things where yup, the Vikings lost and the Lions won…but if I was a Lions fan, I wouldn’t be too happy about my “playoff contending” team having to beat a 2-10 team off of a technicality…
Just my two cents.
I'm still a Minnesotan at heart...
I don't know how
The Umpire didn’t see it. He sure doesn’t look screened.
We're Vikings fans guys
This sort of thing ALWAYS happens to us.
by christian220896 on Dec 12, 2011 11:16 AM CST reply actions
Not that it matters, but...
…I don’t agree with Peter King’s assessment of where the ball would be placed. Why would the ball be placed at the five? The previous snap was from the one.
I would think the ball should have been placed at the 1/2 yard line.
Wouldn't it just have been half the distance from the spot of the foul?
I'm still a Minnesotan at heart...
correct and the foul happened at around the 11 yard line.
so the ball would have been placed at around the 5 yard line.
"But the point is, finger-pointing is just what sports fans do when something doesn't go right." -- Kurt Mensching
by RealityIsOptionable on Dec 12, 2011 11:34 AM CST up reply actions
But that would have punished us
I mean, let’s say it was 1st down, 40 seconds to go (enough time for 2 plays), the facemask was called and instead of a fumble it was a sack. Would it make sense to have the ball spotted at the spot of the foul?
It would've been
One un-timed play from the half yard line if we would have got the call. It doesn’t matter though, we would have ran Gerhart out wide right and he would’ve lost two yards. Game over.
#godhatestheVikings
If we can't laugh at ourselves, Packer fans will call us crybabies and we will be forced to kick their tooth in. I really don't want to go to jail (again).
by Alittlemore_cowbell on Dec 12, 2011 1:32 PM CST up reply actions
At least someone is finally acknowledging it!
Its painful to watch and even more painful to have to hear from people that didnt even watch the game.
Could we of still boffed up and messed up the next play, sure, but at least it would of been a fair screw up, and not this.
2011 Vikings, keeping the liquor industry in the green ALL YEAR LONG!
NewsFlash!! Refs miss a call and it has consequences that you don't like.
Sorry, but us Lions fans have been dealing with this crap for years. I have a hard time listening to anyone whine about how unfair this is. Boo freaking Hoo.
And to answer an earlier comment in this thread; I am not feeling great about how the Lions could not stop the Vikings, or put this game away when the score was 31 to 14 at the half. If the Lions make the playoffs [I’m not convinced we will] I don’t see them getting any wins unless they play a hell of a lot better than this, or better than almost all the games they have played in the last couple of months.
My 2011 Lions season prediction: 12 wins and 4 losses. I made this prediction the week after the New England preseason game. Well, so much for that prediction. 10 and 6 anyone?
You are a troll, please leave.
If we can't laugh at ourselves, Packer fans will call us crybabies and we will be forced to kick their tooth in. I really don't want to go to jail (again).
by Alittlemore_cowbell on Dec 12, 2011 1:33 PM CST up reply actions
Drew Pearson. Enough Said
Thank you for coming.
Ponder to Harvin for 6!
by Percy Harvin My Fav! on Dec 12, 2011 2:27 PM CST via mobile up reply actions 1 recs
I don't understand how a fan of the team that benefitted from the call...
could come onto the losing team’s blog and not at least acknowledge the ridiculousness of the no-call. If anything, as a lion’s fan, I would assume you could at least understand our anger. Instead, you come on here(stick up ass) and spew some douchiness about how your franchise has been “wronged” for years. I’m sorry, it’s not the refs fault your team went 0-16. It’s not the refs fault that your franchise both hired Millen AND kept him around long enough to build the greatest collection of bust WRs of all time. If you couldn’t see the facemask plain as day like everyone else did(except the ref), and have the audacity to come on here and tell us Boo Freakin Hoo, then be gone. I, for one, hope your post gets deleted so that my post gets deleted because I do actually feel sorry for Lions fans, just not the douchey ones.
White Horn Gold Pants
Because he has on honalulu-blue glasses
And is butthurt that his once 5-0 team is stagnating at 8-5. Good thing the referees didn’t call this penalty, or the horrors of the ’08 season would haunt Detroit again.
by REVENGE4KLUWE on Dec 12, 2011 3:27 PM CST up reply actions
I'm all sorts of pissed about this
I’m glad I had a day to relax about it, but it’s still annoying. The worst part about it, for me, is after the Saints game in ‘09 and the Lambeau of ’10, we as a fanbase have been labelled whiners about the officiating and we again have to be whiners about it. It’s a terribly blown call on the GUY WITH THE BALL. If this happened on the lineman blocking for Webb or someone else, then fine, but he’s the guy with the ball. It’s annoying that I HAVE to complain about this.
White Horn Gold Pants
That's way to much assuming for my taste
First, King is assuming the official saw Webb’s head twist. He then expects that official to assume the face-mask penalty and throw a flag. That kind of crap leads to too many illusion calls… Illusion call – a penalty that never happened but due to the physical action/reaction of the player an official assumes a penalty occurred.
Not seeing a penalty is forgivable. To err is human and anyone can miss something they should have seen. Throwing a flag for something that is assumed is horrible officiating. Case in point – in the ‘09 NFCCG in OT the official assumed that Ben Leber interfered with the receiver that Brees overthrew (because the receiver reacted like he had been interfered with). That kind of lame-ass penalty is why so many WR’s try to solicit the flag after they miss a catch.
As far as I’m concerned, any official who calls a penalty that didn’t occur should be suspended for 6 weeks. That would reduce illusion calls, eliminate “assumptions”, and get officials focused on improving at actually seeing more and seeing better.
I know the overall objective is to get it right, which didn’t happen. There is no way to correct this type of mistake unless penalties somehow become reviewable. Expecting officials to make assumptions will create far more mistakes than it could ever correct.
Except
Webb couldn’t make his head do that on his own, and there is no legal play that results in that head movement. As for assuming that one of them saw the head movement, well, it’s pretty hard to believe that they didn’t as he was the QB and he had the ball. They didn’t throw a flag, so I guess they didn’t, but I think they can be rightly criticized for missing it.
As for your improvement plan, yeah, that’s a bad idea unless you want them to just call no penalties. That might be tempting, but I don’t think you’d like how it worked out (see, the Xavier/Cincinnati game)
I just want them to call what they see, and see as much as they can.
How in the world is that a bad idea? Unless of course they really can’t see anything.
Maybe the NFL should recruit athletes to officiate their games.
You know, people who can move and see and react better than 50-60 year old men.
idea for new ref
I want the hottie in the Navy uniform in the advert on DN to be a ref. She can call anything she likes and I will agree to it. What? You didn’t see that flagrant face mask? Really? Ok, I will go sit down now… thank you.
I saw it live and saw the facemask
For the life of me I don’t know what the ref was watching to not see the qb’s head snap around.
I thought that was one of their ‘triggers’ for that type of call.
Totally understand Viking fans be angry
I saw it live too.
Granted, it was on a 60in HDTV, BUT we were watching on the GameMix channel so it was only like a 15 in screen and I saw it plain as day. Even being out of position, I don’t understand how the official could even be “shielded” from seeing that. I can’t wait for the “Letter from the Head of Officiating” stating there was ANOTHER crucial call that an official missed. That’s what, at least 4 in the last 3 years? Maybe more? There’s only 16 games in a season and screwups in the playoffs have ultimate consequences for the team that gets screwed. I’m sure the rules committee will just change another rule, apologize(if that), and some other team will benefit in the future.
White Horn Gold Pants
Of course, the facemask happened after Webb fumbled
Does it matter? Webb fumbled the ball just before his face mask was yanked, so the ball was already out of his hand. On the other hand, you can certainly make the argument that the face mask prevented Webb from jumping on the ball. Does it matter by rule? Would the Vikings automatically get the football back, plus penalty, if the face mask happens after Webb drops the ball?
I have no idea what an official ruling on that would be. Does the face mask after a fumble have any bearing on who gets possession? This is all assuming the refs actually called the foul, obviously, which they didn’t, obviously.
I'm not 100% sure
But as the Lions hadn’t recovered the ball, I think this falls in the “game can’t end on a defensive penalty” rule, which would give us the ball back with an untimed down.
The rule is that because possession hadn't changed yet at the time of the penalty that we'd get the ball at the 5 yard line or half the distance to the goal from the spot of the foul.
by CanadianViking on Dec 12, 2011 5:51 PM CST up reply actions
True
The only way Detroit gets that ball is if a Detroit player had gotten possession of the football and then the facemask happened.
White Horn Gold Pants
I now believe the conspiracy against the Vikes
It may be much deeper the Pistons are horrible. The Red Wings are old. Detroit got bailed out yesterday like Chrysler and GM. Another game with playoff implications ended like that also. Saints-Titans. Locker ends up getting sacked because not 1 but 2 of his receivers get thrown down on the final play. They need full time officials, that was straight out of the NBA yesterday.
by Sterling Sharpe on Dec 12, 2011 5:53 PM CST reply actions
Lions fan here
Wanted to stop in and pass along my understanding at your frustration and anger over a no call that very well could have cost you and your team a loss. As a Lions fan, I know all too well how that feels. This is not how any fan of any team should want their team to win a game.
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"You can get a win with undisciplined jack asses, you create a winning team with discipline and poise." by Leonuro
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GROW THE F UP
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"Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss." - Douglas Adams
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Thank you. I appreciate you stopping in.
We understand the Lions dislike for the officials and I think we can all agree we’ve been hosed enough already. It was kind of ironic that the game potentially came down to an official’s mistake(given the issues the Lions have had with officials)
White Horn Gold Pants
yeah
Every fanbase can remember the seemingly hundreds of time we were screwed over by the Refs. One of the hardest things to forget as a fan.
BTW, I like your draft position. Some real talent coming out this year.
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"You can get a win with undisciplined jack asses, you create a winning team with discipline and poise." by Leonuro
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GROW THE F UP
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"Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss." - Douglas Adams
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Thanks. Bad officiating isn't good for anybody! ( except maybe the Packers and Patriots)
The NFL still owes Megatron a TD and the Lions a win from last year.
by CanadianViking on Dec 12, 2011 8:26 PM CST up reply actions
thanks man
As a Lions fan, I do not want anything paid back. I just want a fair shake.
That is why I had to stop in. Your team did not get a fair shake at the end of that game.
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"You can get a win with undisciplined jack asses, you create a winning team with discipline and poise." by Leonuro
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GROW THE F UP
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"Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss." - Douglas Adams
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No problem man. Bad reffing annoys everybody but it's nice when an opposing fan acknowledges it.
My solution to better refs would be to hire guys full time. It’s sad when longtime refs like Jeff Tripplette screw up game after game. ( Tripplette wasn’t the ref in our game but he’s easily the worst in the league)
by CanadianViking on Dec 12, 2011 8:53 PM CST up reply actions
They really do need to get a full time ref gig going
Seriously, a 8 billion plus dollar industry can’t afford a 30 man full time reffing crew?
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"You can get a win with undisciplined jack asses, you create a winning team with discipline and poise." by Leonuro
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GROW THE F UP
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"Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss." - Douglas Adams
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There has to be a 'referee' upstairs who can make a call on
anything BLATANTLY obvious that on field crew has missed in final 2 minutes. eg…. situation is under further review. In this Lions/Vikings game – this would be an easy call.
Replay review is there to get the DAMN call RIGHT.
by VikesFanSince1967 on Dec 12, 2011 8:44 PM CST reply actions
No
I don’t want them to waste time checking every little thing to see if a play is made within the rules. They’d end up calling a ton of holding penalties then.
I want the officials to be comptetant enough to be able to see such flagrant fouls and call them when they occur. That is their whole purpose.
by REVENGE4KLUWE on Dec 12, 2011 8:48 PM CST up reply actions
Agreed
being able to review non called penalties opens a whole can of worms that I think no one would benefit from in the end.
There is and never will be a perfect solution to situations like this. They will happen. The NFL just has to try it’s very best to limit the occurrences.
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"You can get a win with undisciplined jack asses, you create a winning team with discipline and poise." by Leonuro
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GROW THE F UP
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"Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss." - Douglas Adams
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Vikings lead the league in apologies from the NFL.
From the no-call facemask to the low hit on Favre no-call in the NFC Champ. game to the TD Shiancoe scored (ruled no-catch) that would have beaten GB last year, which would have kept them from the playoffs and ultimately a SB title. The NFL can take their apologies and stuff them where the sun doesn’t shine. I’m sick of it…
by jcase0 on Dec 13, 2011 7:27 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
WAS THIS GAME IN LAMBEAU???
I agree with everyone, this definitely was a missed call. I thought for a minute this game was being held in Lambeau because that’s what usually happens there. I should be really upset, but I just keep reminding myself that this helps the Vikings draft position. Imagine if Detroit makes the playoffs on this play, and it somehow knocks the Giants out. That would be two years where bad officiating against the Vikings affected the Giants even more.
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