It's clearly a hit to the head on Bradford and a penalty by the rules, but what do you do? https://t.co/OuQOzkHlkV
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) December 2, 2016
Look at that video. That seems like a penalty, yes? Sam Bradford threw a pass on a two-point conversion that sailed out of the end zone, although it looked like he got hit in the face.
According to the officiating crew at Thursday night’s game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings, this was legal. The Vikings scored a touchdown with less than a minute remaining to cut the Dallas lead to two, 17-15. The team lined up for a conversion attempt, and after getting moved back due to a false start, Bradford airmailed a pass out of the back of the end zone.
It seemed like it was simply a bad throw by Bradford – and, despite the controversy, this was not his best attempt – but after looking at a replay, Bradford very obviously got smacked in the face. He was incensed after the play, asking the official who was closest to the play how this was allowed. Even Cris Collinsworth pointed out that this was fine.
But the penalty didn’t get called, Minnesota couldn’t recover the onside kick, and Dallas ended up getting the win. When asked about the call after, Bradford said the official told him he was not hit in the face.
Bradford said the referee told him he didn't get hit in the face mask.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 2, 2016
This is wrong, of course, but there’s nothing Bradford and the Vikings can do now. It is, however, the latest example of a Thursday Night Game ending with a missed officiating call this season. It’s a disturbing trend, but at this point, we should probably just get used to games on Thursdays featuring poor officiating.
