Officiating Played a Part in Vikings Loss to 49ers
LeeAnn Lowman
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The questionable officiating of the Minnesota Vikings – San Francisco 49ers game definitely contributed to the loss. The inconsistent officiating only accentuated the team’s other weaknesses. Both during and after the game, social media was exploding with frustrated comments about the missed and weak (or imaginary) calls. Usually, you see that kind of criticism only from the fans but it also came from the game commentators, other spectators, and even coaches.
Coach Zimmer’s Choice Words
At his post-game press conference, Coach Zim made no secret of the fact that he was unhappy with the officiating of Sunday’s game: “these guys hold all the time, so they’re grabbing us around the waist, grabbing our backs.” “The officials,” Zim goes on to explain, “they don’t want to call it every play, but until they start calling every play, they’re not going to stop doing it.” He went on to say he spent a lot of the game communicating with the refs about the lack of holding calls – he felt they were impeding Minnesota’s opportunities to find success.
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The 49ers tight end George Kittle had a different opinion. He felt that the officiating went fairly both ways, the refs just weren’t calling the holds and letting the guys play. He implied that is just the nature of football and that Zim needed to tell his guys to play better. It is easy to be so quippy when you win.
The Good, the Bad, and the Missed
Did San Fran really get away with a ton of missed holding penalties? It is hard to say definitively, there were a couple of obvious ones that were missed on both sides of the ball. If you look at just the numbers, the game appears pretty equal: the Vikings had 5 penalties for 38 yards and San Francisco had 5 penalties for 57 yards. The issue with fans is always going to be the big mistakes that seem to change the course of the game.
There were at least a few of those calls late in the game.
- First was a drop called on Adam Thielen that appeared to be a clear catch. Coach Zimmer threw the challenge flag and it appeared obvious to everyone that it would be overturned. It wasn’t.
- Second was a clear pass interference by K’Waun Williams as he hooked K.J. Osborn on the final drive. There was definite contact prior to the ball arriving that should have led to a call.
- Third was the brutal punch thrown by Josh Norman to Thielen’s back. It should have resulted in a penalty.
Most fans just want to see the games refereed consistently and fairly. There were a few instances where Nick Bosa was held but none of them appeared to have game-altering repercussions. Additionally, there was a somewhat weak PI call on Patrick Peterson earlier in the game. If that is going to be PI then the call should have been made against Williams.
What Really Cost Minnesota the Game
The penalty problem isn’t new in Minnesota, so fans can’t use that as an excuse. What really led to the loss against the 49ers was the team’s inability to stop the run. San Fran’s offense was able to absolutely gash the defense with run plays; they ran for 208 yards. Some of the mistakes that were made – Cousin’s interception that led to an easy touchdown – didn’t help. Additionally, losing Dalvin Cook to injury hurt.
Sunday’s head ref was Brad Rogers who threw an average number of flags on Sunday, maybe even a little less than normal. Rogers’s average this season is 12 flags per game for an average of 108.45 yards. What cannot be predicted are the differences in the way things are seen – pass interference, unsportsmanlike conduct, and catches. While it is aggravating to feel missed calls influence a game, it is critical for the team to always make sure it does everything it can to avoid them.
All in all, the Vikings played better than predicted in their loss to the 49ers, but the officiating did make life difficult. The cobbled-together defense was weak against the run but had some flashes of cohesion. This loss just felt extra frustrating when so much was going against the Vikings and they were so close to winning.
