NFL fans fume on referees for unfairly favoring Lions over Vikings on SNF - "The fix is in"

The Sunday Night Football 2024 finale between the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings was touted as a heavyweight clash, pitting the NFC's two best teams against each other: an ascendant contender against the most shocking package of the season.

But over the first three quarters, the defending NFC North champions controlled the game despite two interceptions by Jared Goff, as Jahmyr Gibbs dominated with two touchdowns - one rushing and one receiving.

According to Barstool Sports founder and president Dave Portnoy, the hosts were getting some favorable referring decisions, like an uncalled grounding penalty on Jared Goff and a missed facemask grab on Sam Darnold.

"That was grounding. Give me a break," he tweeted on X.

Some fans angrily agreed with Portnoy in the comments, as one wrote:

"And the fix is in. We all now know that the league will not let the Vikings win this game."

"Refs are on the Lions tonight. 3 missed personal fouls and that grounding call. Fix is in," another commented.

"Was that a facemask not called on Darnold?," one fan wrote.

Most fans disagreed with the officiating in the game.

"Officiating is awful. Constantly awful," another lamented.

"Story of missed calls this year," another reminisced.

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Lions SNF game is not the worst instance of Vikings falling victim to allegedly biased officiating

With the Vikings losing 31-9, this was not the first time poor officiating decided a game against them. The most egregious case came at the Los Angeles Rams. It was the fourth quarter, and they were pinned near their own end zone after a very long and deep punt by Ethan Evans.

On second down, Sam Darnold was sacked by Byron Young at the end zone, causing a safety and loss of possession. But there was one problem: the sophomore linebacker had grabbed his facemask. Even his reaction gave it away.

But somehow it went uncalled, allowing the hosts to win. After the game, referee Tra Blake explained:

"The quarterback was facing the opposite direction from me, so I did not have a good look at it. I did not have a look, and I did not see the face mask being pulled, obviously."

"The umpire had players between him and the quarterback, so he did not get a good look at it. He was blocked out as well. So that was the thing. We did not see it, so we couldn't call it."

Meanwhile, : Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell refused to use it as an excuse, as he said:

"For us to talk about that, for us to seek comfort in that, is not how we're going to respond to this. It's just not going to happen. I'm going to do the same thing right now. I really don't have a comment on that."

It would be the Vikings' last loss so far, as they would begin a nine-win streak the following week.