JJ Watt offered a strong reaction to the referees missing a facemask penalty late in Thursday night’s Los Angeles Rams-Minnesota Vikings game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
The officials missed a blatant facemask foul committed by the Rams which should have helped given the Vikings better field position at the end of the game. Instead, the Rams got credit for a safety, which helped them seal the win.
Fans couldn’t believe that the officials had missed the call. Watt made a sarcastic crack in response.
“Can’t see a facemask 3 feet in front of them, but we want refs to decide what is and isn’t a ‘hip drop’ tackle in real time,” Watt wrote on X.
Can’t see a facemask 3 feet in front of them, but we want refs to decide what is and isn’t a “hip drop” tackle in real time.
😂😂
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) October 25, 2024
It’s a great point by Watt.
It’s hard for referees to enforce all the rules as it is. And the NFL recently banned the hip-drop tackle because of the injury risk they believe it presents. The problem is, like Watt said, it’s hard for the officials to recognize a hip-drop tackle in real time.
Watt previously complained when the hip-drop tackle rule was put into place because he felt it was one more way the league was diminishing defenses. The NFL could consider making a change so that facemask fouls are reviewable in the future.
