Vikings were set to try 68-yard FG before late penalty pushed them back

The Detroit Lions held off a final rally from the Minnesota Vikings to claim a 31-29 victory in Week 7. That two-point margin, created when Lions kicker Jake Bates slammed home a 44-yard field goal with 15 seconds left on the clock, proved even closer than it might appear.

That’s because the Vikings very nearly trotted out big-legged rookie kicker Will Reichard for a potential game-winning field goal on the game’s final play. Reichard has been perfect on the season and comfortably hit from 57 yards earlier in the game, and he’s drilled kicks from beyond 65 yards routinely in warm-ups.

After QB Sam Darnold hit wideout Jalen Nailor at the 50-yard line, the Vikings were ready to send out Reichard for a potential game-winner from about 67 or 68 yards. Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell admitted after the game they were trying to get Reichard a shot to be a hero.

The Lions, and their fans, were spared any nail-biting drama thanks to a penalty that pushed the Vikings out of any conceivable range, even for the very impressive Reichard.

The penalty O’Connell referenced exposed a loophole, one that in times past might’ve bitten the Lions at the base of the tail. The Vikings were called for an illegal formation penalty after furiously rushing to the line to snap the ball for a spike to kill the clock.

In nearly every instance, an offensive penalty in the final two minutes creates a 10-second runoff on the clock. Because Minnesota had no timeouts, that would have ended the game. But there is a loophole specific to the illegal formation penalty that doesn’t create the runoff.

Of course, the five yards assessed on the penalty pushed the Vikings out of potential field goal range, as O’Connell noted. However, had Minnesota’s offense been further down the field, that weird technicality in the NFL rulebook could very well have haunted the Lions.