Los Angeles Rams earned a 30-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings last week 8 of the 2024 NFL season in a big game that included a controversial action in which a teammate of quarterback Matthew Stafford was fined for a hit on quarterback Sam Darnold.
The Rams are now 3-4 and on their way to recovering from their negative record in the league. However, last week’s victory does not overshadow the fact that the NFL has announced the sanction imposed on a key player of the team led by quarterback Stafford.
As reported by NFL Insider Tom Pelissero, the Rams player fined by the NFL is none other than linebacker Byron Young, who grabbed quarterback Darnold’s facemask last Thursday night. Stafford’s teammate was fined $7,014.19 for the infraction.
The action was controversial because no flag was thrown, and the resulting safety sealed the victory for the Rams. At the time, the Vikings trailed by eight points with less than two minutes remaining. The play should have resulted in a 15-yard penalty and an automatic first down for the Minnesota franchise.
Byron Young of the Los Angeles Rams
The referees explained the play
The officials explained why they did not call the penalty in the Vikings’ favor. Their version of events indicates that they did not have a clear view of an apparent facemask grab on Vikings quarterback Darnold. Because they were visually blocked, the referees failed to call what the cameras saw.
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Sam Darnold had spoken out about the controversial play
As Vikings quarterback, Darnold shared his thoughts on the Minnesota franchise’s second straight loss. “The mask is what it is, but we have to be consistent in the attack. I thought we could have done a lot to not put ourselves in the situation we were in,” the 27-year-old player said.
