Over the course of an entire football game, it’s never fair to pinpoint one call as a moment that won or lost a game. But there are certain decisions that can absolutely shape how a game unfolds.
We saw that during Sunday’s Week 5 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings.
With the Vikings facing a fourth-down play and just under five minutes to go in a seven-point game, Kirk Cousins beat the pass rush to get a throw off in the direction of Jordan Addison in the end zone. The initial decision was huge as flags were thrown for an apparent defensive pass interference on L’Jarius Sneed.
Refs pick up the interference call
Then the ref told Sneed to put his helmet back on instead of throwing a flag for taking it off
— Pickswise (@Pickswise) October 8, 2023
But after the refs discussed, they decided to pick up the flag because they didn’t believe that the pass was catchable. Yet, the scene got stranger when Sneed removed his helmet to argue with officials, and instead of being flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, Sneed was just told to put his helmet back on.
And to top it off, you can see the officials literally telling Sneed about his helmet yet doing nothing as far as actually calling it pic.twitter.com/Vg9uOErSXZ
— Bad Sports Refs (@BadSportsRefs) October 8, 2023
Now, a correct penalty for removing the helmet would not have impacted the possession as the Chiefs still would have gotten the ball off the fourth-down incompletion. But the whole sequence was not a great look for an officiating crew that clearly knew Sneed should’ve been penalized.
The Vikings were able to get the ball back for a final possession, but the game ended with a sack of Cousins and a 27-20 Chiefs win.
Vikings fans were still quick to blame the crew after the game.
This was how Twitter reacted
Like at some point Chiefs have to stop getting alllllll the “lucky” calls including refs telling them to put his helmet back on… like… cmon NFL
— Nate Dawg (@Your_Mate_Nate) October 8, 2023
The chiefs and the “refs” vs the world pic.twitter.com/URq0gvmmd1
— Cameron (@Cameron_in_KC) October 8, 2023
The ref just told Sneed to put his helmet on to avoid a penalty while committing a penalty. You can’t make this up.
— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) October 8, 2023
Even if you don’t call PI which it was… there was still illegal contact, a missed hands to the face and a missed unsportsmanlike conduct…
I’m not saying we would’ve won but we definitely robbed of the chance to tie the game! #SKOL https://t.co/P7RrJDw0w6
— Honest Los (@Marti_McFlyJr) October 8, 2023
The Kansas City Refs vs Minnesota Vikings https://t.co/3kjXTXwWwt
— Oliver. Pickled. (@OliverAHenzen) October 8, 2023
Don’t ever tell me the chiefs don’t get special treatment ever again. https://t.co/PRtua895ap
— Jess 🎃 (@Jezza182) October 8, 2023
How many penalties did the refs ignore on KC on just one play? https://t.co/kUB3hZYaAO
— Mike From Woburn (@MikeFromWoburn) October 8, 2023
Nice of the refs to tell Sneed to put his helmet back on instead of throwing the flag…
— The Viking Age (@TheVikingAge) October 8, 2023
Do they make up rules for every Chiefs game or just this one https://t.co/Zf0KIPTTEj
— theorist (@pff_host) October 8, 2023
