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admin | December 3, 2023 | Denver Broncos | No Comments

After two high hits on Vikings players, should the referees have flagged the Broncos?
The Broncos led with their helmet in a few places without being called for it.

In the Vikings’ Sunday night loss to the Broncos, there were two instances where it seemed like the home team got away with hitting a Minnesota ballcarrier helmet-to-helmet.

The Vikings faced a third and 1 very early in the game and attempted to get a little creative by having T.J. Hockenson take the snap and pitch it to Josh Dobbs. When Baron Browning tore the ball from Dobbs’ grasp, the play resulted in a turnover, the first of three for the visiting team that day. Veteran safety Kareem Jackson arrived just as Browning was getting the ball out and hit Dobbs high.

After the game, Kevin O’Connell stated, “We feel like Josh Dobbs provides an element to our offense that we want to try to use.” “We would have preferred better execution for the play. We can’t turn the football over under any circumstances. I am aware that during the play, he took a fairly good shot to the helmet.”

Officiating analyst Terry McAulay stated on the NBC broadcast that he believed Jackson ought to have been punished for the hit. He linked with Dobbs’ helmet while leading with his own.

O’Connell responded, “On the field, it felt like that,” when asked if he believed a flag ought to have been raised. “I’ll need to examine it again later. Things happen out there fairly quickly. However, at that moment, it appeared to be a fairly direct hit from helmet to helmet given his approach from the second level. They probably had a different perspective.

Notably, Jackson has been fined, shown the door several times, and most recently, he missed two games due to hits this season that were deemed dangerous. Dobbs was able to continue playing despite receiving a quick concussion evaluation.

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“The regulation is what it is,” stated O’Connell. “They didn’t throw the flag.”

If an unnecessary roughness call had been made there, the fumble would have been called back, giving the Vikings possession of the ball close to midfield. Rather, the Broncos utilized the advantage to jump out to an early 3-0 lead.

Later on in the game, it occurred once more. In the fourth quarter, linebacker Alex Singleton led with his head and struck a defenseless Alexander Mattison in the head/shoulder area after Dobbs threw a pass to Mattison, who was already being tackled by several Broncos. Being able to pick up a new set of downs a few plays later allowed the Vikings to have a greater impact on the game than the no-call itself did.

The Vikings’ defeat was not caused by those two plays, but it will be interesting to watch if Jackson or Singleton are penalized for their unpenalized hits this week.