The Los Angeles Rams are headed to their first Super Bowl since moving back to the city, partly thanks to a controversial no-call pass interference.
With less than two minutes of the game left, the New Orleans Saints were on track to take the lead. But everything changed on a third-and-10 situation. Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw an incomplete pass to Tommy Lee Lewis. It looked like the Rams’ Nickell Robey-Coleman interfered, making contact with Lewis.
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To many at home and in the Superdome, it looked like pass interference, which would have given the Saints a first down. However, the referees never called it.
This wasn’t called for pass interference by the way pic.twitter.com/j2kSnpBgQd
— NFL Humor (@NFLHumor) January 20, 2019
The Saints ended up settling for a field goal instead of a touchdown, making the score 23-20. The Rams had just enough time to get the ball back and move within field goal range. They succeeded, sending the game into overtime with 15 seconds left.
Although the Saints got the ball first, Brees threw an interception on the opening drive. That set up the Rams’ game-winning field goal, which sent the team to Super Bowl LIII.
The Rams’ Super Bowl berth comes two years after the franchise hired head coach Sean McVey, who was only 30 at the time, reports ESPN. McVey took a team that was only 4-12 in 2016 and took them to the playoffs in 2017. This year, the Rams finished the regular season with a 13-3 record and won the NFC West. At 32, McVey will be the youngest Super Bowl coach in history.
Rams quarterback Jared Goff finished the game with 25 completions for 297 yards, a touchdown and an interception. C.J. Anderson was the game’s leading rusher with 44 yards on 16 carries. Brandin Cooks was the Rams’ top receiver with 107 yards from seven catches.
The Rams will be heading to the Super Bowl for the first time since Super Bowl XXXVI at the end of the 2001 season. It is also the franchise’s first trip to the championship game since moving from St. Louis back to Los Angeles in 2016.
Coincidentally, the Rams lost to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI. The Patriots, still led by quarterback Tom Brady, are playing the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game Sunday.
The only previous Super Bowl win for the Rams came in Super Bowl XXXIV, when the team beat the Tennessee Titans 23-16.
Super Bowl LIII will be played at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 3. The game will air on CBS.
Photo credit: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
