NFL official Tra Blake addressed the late-game controversy sparked by a missed facemask penalty in the Los Angeles Rams’ 30-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings at SoFi Stadium on Thursday night.

The Rams secured the victory when linebacker Byron Young sacked Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold in the end zone for a safety with 1:42 left. No flag was thrown on the play, but replays showed Young clearly grabbing Darnold’s facemask, which should have resulted in a 15-yard penalty and an automatic first down for Minnesota.

“Well, on that play the quarterback was facing the opposite direction from me, so I didn’t get a good look at it,” Blake, who has been refereeing NFL games since 2020, told a pool reporter after the game. “I didn’t look closely and obviously I didn’t see the face mask being pulled off. The referee had players between him and the quarterback, so he didn’t get a view of it. He was also blocked.

“So that was the problem, we didn’t see it, so we couldn’t mention it. We couldn’t see it.”

Darnold was visibly upset after the no-call, as was coach Kevin O’Connell and the rest of the Vikings offense.

“We definitely discussed it on the field because they raised a concern,” Blake said. “We discussed it as a team, but we couldn’t see it on the field, so we couldn’t make that call.”

Of course, if that flag was thrown, there are no guarantees that Minnesota would have tied the game with a touchdown and two-point conversion. But the Vikings deserved to have a shot.