Nothing can go right for the Minnesota Vikings this year.
As if watching Brett Favre throw three interceptions trying to get the ball to Randy Moss wasn't bad enough, the referees in their Week 7 game against the Green Bay Packers took away two touchdowns that were in fact legitimate.
There were three calls that went against the Vikings, who lost the Sunday Night Football matchup by four points.
The first call came early in the second quarter when Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw a touchdown pass to tight end Andrew Quarless. The catch should have been ruled an incompletion due to Quarless bobbling the ball after he landed out of bounds. NFL rules have it that if a player bobbles a ball when getting two feet on the ground, that is okay as long as the ball doesn't hit the ground. However, if a player catches a ball while going out of bounds, the ball cannot be bobbled.
Neither the referees nor Vikings coach Brad Childress caught on to this mistake.
Later in the second quarter, Favre threw a pass to diving tight end Visanthe Shiancoe in the end zone. When making the catch, the ball hit the ground but did not move, making it a fair catch. If the ball moved or if he bobbled it as he hit the ground then it wouldn't be fair.
The Packers ended up challenging the call and referee Scott Green changed the call to an incompletion saying Shiancoe had "used the ground to help make the catch."
That touchdown would have won the game for the Vikings. But to make matters worst, the Vikings were snubbed another touchdown. Another one that took referees two takes to get it right.
Vikings receiver Percy Harvin made a catch at the back of the endzone that was questionable as to whether he had both feet in bounds. The official closest to the catch marked it as a touchdown and the Vikings went on celebrating, thinking they had won the game.
But upon further review when Green looked under the hood, they realized they had made yet another incorrect call. Harvin did not have both feet inbounds, therefore the touchdown was taken away and the Packers won.
Although all referees make mistakes at some points in their careers, simple calls on having feet in bounds and catches that use the ground should be second nature. It is their job to make the right calls and in this game they did not earn their pay.
