The Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills gave us what may go down as the best game of the 2022 NFL season, but the officials missed a few calls that enhanced what was an incredible ending. The league failed to review the controversial catch made by Gabe Davis that helped set up the Bills' game-tying field goal late in the fourth quarter, and then, officials missed a penalty in overtime that could have ended the game sooner.
Minnesota got the ball first to start the extra period, and Kirk Cousins marched the offense down to the Buffalo two-yard line. On first-and-goal, Dalvin Cook rushed right for a loss of three yards. However, the Bills had 12 defenders on the field -- which went unnoticed by the officials.
"I know it's moving pretty fast out there sometimes," Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell said after the game, via ESPN.
As Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell said last night, the Bills had 12 players on the field when they stopped Dalvin Cook for a 3-yard loss in OT yesterday. O'Connell did say: "I know it's moving pretty fast out there sometimes." pic.twitter.com/5Cc4sDNN7r
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) November 14, 2022
Instead of the Vikings getting a first-and-goal from the one-yard line due to the penalty, they had a second-and-goal from the five-yard line. On second down, Cousins was sacked, and he then failed to connect with Adam Thielen on third-and-goal from the Bills' 15-yard line. Greg Joseph was forced to come on and kick a 33-yard field goal, which then gave the Bills a chance to end the game with a touchdown.
Thankfully for the Vikings, Josh Allen then threw his second red zone interception of the game to Patrick Peterson, which sealed the win for the Vikings. The officials' failure to see the 12 men on the field in the red zone didn't affect the outcome of this game, but could you imagine if it did?
