By all apparent indications, the NFL’s first regular-season game in Ireland went very well. But there’s one important asterisk that impacted the Vikings when the game was on the line.
Shortly before kickoff, the teams were told that the play clock and the game clock in the north end zone at Croke Park were not functional, and would not be available for the game. (As we understand it, there was an issue with synchronization of the clocks.)
While the situation affected both teams equally, it specifically impacted the Vikings, who were facing the north end of the stadium in the fourth quarter.
“It was a unique thing about coming to play here and then you find out about three minutes before the kickoff that that end zone’s game clock and play clock would be turned off for the day,” coach Kevin O’Connell said after the game, via the Associated Press. “Normally that clock right in front of the quarterback is kind of registering ‘I’ve got to get going.’ It was just precious time lost in a sequence.”
Down 24-21, the Vikings got the ball back with 1:02 to play, from their own 20. Eventually, they faced fourth and 12 from their own 37 with 14 seconds to play. The Vikings inadvertently took a delay of game penalty, making it fourth and 17.
“It was as if they weren’t thinking at all about the play clock,” play-by-play announcer Joe Davis said on the NFL Network broadcast, without mentioning that quarterback Carson Wentz couldn’t see the play clock in his normal field of vision — because it was turned off. (No mention was made at that point in the broadcast by Davis or analyst Greg Olsen that the play clock at the north end of the field wasn’t operational.)
Said the NFL on the issue, per the AP: “We used the stadium scoreboard above the north end zone to display the game clock and play clock due to an issue with synching the static stadium clock and play clock at that end of the field. Players always had the play clock and game clock visible to them at all times. Both clubs were informed of this prior to game.”
That said, and as the AP notes, the scoreboard was in the corner of the end zone. The play clock and game clock that are usually in the quarterback’s natural line of sight were not working.
“Yeah, it was weird,” Wentz said after the game, per the AP. “I’m not going to lie, it was weird looking behind me, looking over my shoulder on the side. I thought we handled it OK. Obviously got us at a very bad time of the game, unfortunately. But yeah, that was a little different.”
In hindsight, the Vikings could have addressed the issue at the outset of the game. Minnesota won the toss and elected to defer its option to the third quarter. The Vikings could have chosen to receive the opening kick, which would have given the Steelers the kick-or-receive option in the third quarter — allowing the Vikings to ensure that, in the fourth quarter, they would have been heading toward the south end zone and the play clock that was, you know, turned on.
With only a few minutes to process the information before the start of the game, the Vikings perhaps didn’t think that far ahead. Or perhaps the Vikings nevertheless decided to prioritize playing defense first to moving toward a functioning play clock and game clock with the game on the line.
Regardless, as the NFL continues to play a single game per year (if that often) in a given stadium, the experience must properly replicate the playing of a game on American soil. On Sunday in Dublin, it did not.
