The Tennessee Titans came up with a fourth-down stop in the end zone in Sunday’s 23-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings that appeared to halt a Vikings scoring drive.
But officials threw a flag on a hard, clean hit by safety Mike Brown that extended the drive and allowed the Vikings to score a touchdown. Titans head coach Brian Callahan had to be held back as he gave officials an earful for the call.
The play took place midway through the second quarter as Minnesota held a 7-3 lead. Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold looked to receiver Jordan Addison in traffic in the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line.
As the ball arrived, Brown hit Addison hard in the chest, dislodging the ball to secure the would-be stop for what would have been a turnover on downs. But officials flagged Brown for unnecessary roughness on the hit.
Titans head coach Brian Callahan was absolutely IRATE after this unnecessary roughness call in the endzone
Callahan was then flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct pic.twitter.com/T4efCW2W1X
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) November 17, 2024
Brown did not make contact with Addison’s head on the play, nor did he use his own helmet as a spear. He hit Addison cleanly in the chest with his right shoulder on a textbook hit that dislodged the ball.
Instead of a turnover on downs, the Vikings got a fresh set of downs and scored a touchdown on a sneak by Darnold on the next play to extend their lead to 13-3. CBS’ Adam Archuleta, a former NFL safety, was incensed by the call.
“That should not be a personal foul,” Archuleta said. “He hits him right in the chest. There is zero head and neck area involved in that hit.”
CBS’ rules analyst Gene Steratore concurred with Archuleta that officials got the call wrong.
“You’d like to see the official throw [the flag] and maybe replay come in and take it off of that foul after they’ve thrown it,” Steratore said.
Callahan, meanwhile, was irate. He walked onto the field to yell at officials as an assistant coach restrained him.
Callahan’s reaction drew another flag, this one for unsportsmanlike contact. The Vikings were already at first-and-goal from the 1-yard thanks to the unnecessary roughness call, so the second penalty cost the Titans half a yard. Callahan got his money’s worth with his rant, but to no avail as the Vikings were given a fresh set of downs that they converted into a touchdown.
Jefferey Simmons on officiating: ‘We’re cursed’
After the game, Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons was critical of the officiating.
“It’s hard when you’re getting calls like that,” Simmons said. … “At the end of the day, everybody gotta be held accountable. Maybe some of them — but a lot of them calls in that game, we disagree on it. … It’s hard when you’re getting them type of calls when you’ve made your plays, you’re getting ready to get off the field on third down, what may be. And we get a penalty. Some of them were late. …
“Things like that, man, it’s out of our control. I think we’re cursed when it comes down to officiating right now. That’s just my opinion on that. We can’t speak too much on it because we know the NFL’s waiting to fine us for that stuff. “