There was a bit of an interesting situation at the Metrodome on Sunday afternoon early in the game between the Oakland Raiders and the Minnesota Vikings. It could have really screwed things up for the Vikings on the afternoon, but the situation was eventually rectified, as you'll see in the video after the jump.
Basically, what happens breaks down as follows.
On 1st-and-10 from the Oakland 35, Percy Harvin took a handoff and went around left end for what appeared to be a 35-yard touchdown. However, there was a holding penalty on Vikings' receiver Michael Jenkins. The holding penalty was a spot foul, which was enforced at the Oakland 17. That put the ball back to the Oakland 27-yard line, where it was a rare 1st-and-2 situation. However, the down markers on the field said that it was second down.
So, on 1st-and-2. . .or what the officials thought was 2nd-and-2. . .Harvin lost six yards on a rush.
On 2nd-and-8. . .or what the officials thought was 3rd-and-8. . .Christian Ponder threw a pass that fell incomplete.
So, the Vikings saw fourth down on the markers on the field, and started sending their special teams out on the field.
Vikings' coach Leslie Frazier sensed that something wasn't right, and attempted to say something to head official Jerome Bogar. However, Bogar didn't seem inclined to do anything, so Frazier ended up burning a time out to talk to Bogar about the situation.
Things were, eventually, resolved, and the Vikings wound up not being charged with a time out after the officials realized the error of their ways. However, the fact that the Vikings nearly had to burn a time out to get all of this straightened around in the first place is nothing short of ridiculous, and looks quite bad for an allegedly professional National Football League officiating crew.