Percy Harvin nearly carried the Minnesota Vikings on his back during Sunday's 24-14 loss at Atlanta, accounting for eight receptions, five rushing attempts, a 104-yard kickoff return and two touchdowns.
But it's officially only one touchdown in the box score.
The only thing Harvin couldn't do Sunday was throw the red challenge flag himself after his third-down run from the 1-yard line during the fourth quarter, in which replays appeared to show he broke the goal line. Coach Leslie Frazier didn't throw the flag either, and the Vikingsfailed on the subsequent fourth-down attempt.
To many, that amounts to back-to-back botched decisions.
Frazier said after the game there was "no dialogue" with the staff in the coaching box that the play should have been challenged, and he couldn't see from his vantage point. Harvin believes he scored, but he said couldn't get Frazier's attention to tell him.
"I was trying to tell Coach to hurry up and challenge it," Harvin told the Star Tribune. "But he had a million things going through his head at the time, so I moved on to the next play."
Vikings fans haven't moved on, as the plays have created much angst in Minnesota. Frazier again took the blame Monday after a night of reflection.
"We have to review our communication based on that play alone," Frazier said.
"When our season is where it is, and the way our season has gone, anytime you're in a close game like that, which we've been in a lot of close games this year, one play or one sequence can, kind of, turn the game," he added. "And we've seen that in our case a number of times."
As for the play in which Harvin reached out over the goal line before his knees appeared to hit the ground, Frazier couldn't bring himself to say it was clear cut.
"It was very, very close," he said. "There were a few different angles. Very close."
There's a lot of second-guessing going on in Minnesota these days.
