The Minnesota Vikings’ thrilling comeback win over the Cleveland Browns will minimize the scrutiny against the NFL refs who made a brutal mistake on a missed Will Reichard field goal attempt during Sunday’s game in London.
Minnesota was trailing Cleveland 17-14 with under 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter when Will Reichard came out for a 51-yard field goal attempt. At first, it just looked like a horrific kick and miss by the usually reliable kicker:
Will The Thill Reichard’s 51-yard field goal attempt pretty clearly hit the wire. Causing it to go from being straight down the middle to violently veering to the right.
Would have resulted in a re-kick.
How did the officials/replay booth not see ANY of this? pic.twitter.com/ppOrcTqmGm
— Purple FTW! Podcast (@PurpleForTheWin) October 5, 2025
But alert social media detectives noticed a classic case of “more than meets the eye” on Reichard’s miss. In subsequent replay angles, you can see that Reichard’s kick hit the camera wire in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium:
🚨🚨THIS IS CRAZY🚨🚨#Vikings kicker Will Reichard’s missed field goal today appears to have hit a camera cable and the refs somehow missed it.
This should have been a re-kick & Reichard would’ve had a chance to kick it again.
A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE ANGRY.pic.twitter.com/W35SmtOPu5
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) October 5, 2025
“Always something goofy in these overseas games,” a fan wrote.
That Will Reichard kick definitely hit the camera wire. You can see the ball ricochet to the right. #mnvikings @Vikings should have been a re-kick. Always something goofy in these overseas games. pic.twitter.com/0fNCmjNvsT
— Sam Paulson (@kibblemansam) October 5, 2025
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“Can’t believe no one noticed that Will Reichard’s field goal attempt hit a cable wire. It should have been a re-kick,” observed another.
@awfulannouncing Can’t believe no one noticed that Will Reichard’s field goal attempt hit a cable wire. It should have been a re-kick. pic.twitter.com/Q3Y0pt8Cut
— GMG (@GMGHRCInc) October 5, 2025
As noted by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, NFL rules state the following:
“[I]f a loose ball in play strikes a video board, guide wire, sky cam, or any other object, the ball will be dead immediately, and the down will be replayed at the previous spot. In the event the down is replayed, the game clock will be reset to the time remaining when the snap occurred, and the clock will start on the All penalties will be disregarded, except for personal fouls or unsportsmanlike conduct fouls, which will be administered prior to the replaying of the down.”
The Vikings went on to win 21-17 after Carson Wentz threw a late touchdown to Jordan Addison, but even Browns fans have the right to be angry over this missed call. If Reichard got a do-over and made the kick, the Browns’ play-calling would have surely changed if it were tied in the fourth quarter.
