By order of magnitude, the benefits the Vikings received Sunday from referees do not come close to offsetting Drew Pearson’s shove or the mangling of Brett Favre that occurred during the 2009 “Bountygate” NFC title game.
RandBall: Officiating saved Vikings; game announcers helped nobody
A largely forgettable Vikings victory was notable for two reasons: Several borderline calls went the Vikings' way, and the CBS announcing crew was a disaster.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
November 18, 2024 at 6:01PM
But let us point out that in an otherwise fairly forgettable 23-13 victory over the Titans on Sunday (preferable to a memorable loss every day of the week, just so we’re clear), the Vikings were the recipients of enough good officiating fortune to make Tennessee coach Brian Callahan lose his mind and to cause at least one Titans player to wonder if they are the team that is cursed when it comes to the refs.
The Titans were flagged for being off-sides on a Sam Darnold fourth-down QB sneak; an end-zone pass breakup, again on fourth down, to Jordan Addison; a third-down stop in the second half was negated by a fishy illegal contact penalty; lineman Isaiah Prince was flagged three times for not lining up properly, negating a touchdown and another long gain; Darnold looked like he fumbled in another key spot, but he was ruled down.
I can’t think of a single big call that went against the Vikings, which Patrick Reusse and I talked about on Monday’s Daily Delivery podcast.
Of course, celebrating such things isn’t baked into the DNA of a Vikings fan. These gifts, which absolutely saved the Vikings from a dicey finish and perhaps even a loss, will quickly be forgotten the next time something goes against Minnesota.
If you want to forget about the three-hour broadcast as well, I don’t blame you. The CBS play-by-play and analyst combo of Spero Dedes and Adam Archuleta was one of the shakiest I have heard in a while.
On the first Tennessee drive, they referenced a third-and-12 by calling it third-and-9. On the Titans’ second drive, Dedes pronounced Josh Metellus’ last name Metal-us, though he did correct himself a few seconds later.
Perhaps my favorite gaffe came early in the second half when the Vikings were back to field a punt. “Fair catch signaled here by Addison at the 26,” came the call ... except of course it was Brandon Powell (No. 4, not No. 3) receiving it AND he returned the punt instead of calling for a fair catch.
I don’t expect perfection from broadcasts, but when there are glaring mistakes that happen in real-time, it does detract from the experience.
Some Vikings fans thought Archuleta was actively campaigning for the Titans in several instances. I didn’t notice that as much, though certainly there were times the broadcast team disagreed with the officiating (for good reason, as already noted, in at least some of those cases).
Here are four more things to know today:
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- The Wolves won on a Julius Randle buzzer-beater Sunday, improving to 8-6 on the year and 2-0 since fans declared their season was over.
- It’s not Kirk-tober any more. The Falcons were clobbered 38-6 by the Broncos, who got a huge day from rookie QB Bo Nix (Bo-vember?) in the win. Kirk Cousins and Atlanta fell to 6-5, by the way, something Reusse and I also talked about with glee on the podcast.
- I joined Bluesky recently, and maybe you should, too? (Not you, Reusse). It’s as close to old Twitter as I have found.
- Tuesday’s show will feature Andrew Krammer enduring my spicy Vikings takes.
The competition will be tougher coming out of this bye week, with No. 4 Penn State coming to town.
