The New Orleans Saints will “probably never get over” the blown pass interference call late in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship game, which ended with the Los Angles Rams heading to Super Bowl LIII.
After the game, Payton told the media he received a call from NFL head of officials Alberto Riveron, admitting they “blew the call,” reports ESPN. However, that did not make him feel any better.
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“For a call like that not to be made, man, it’s just hard to swallow. And then to get a phone call,” Payton said as he trailed off.
He continued, “We spoke initially, then I called to follow up. And the first thing [head of officials Alberto Riveron] said when I got on the phone — ‘We messed it up.’ Listen, it’s a hard job for those guys ’cause it’s happening fast. But I don’t know if there was ever a more obvious pass interference call that — here it is, the NFC Championship Game. So, it’s a tough one to swallow.”
The no-call happened with only 1:45 left on the play clock, with the Saints at the Rams’ 13-yard line at third-and-10. Quarterback Drew Brees threw to the Saints’ Tommylee Lewis. Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman made what appeared to be a helmet-to-helmet hit to keep Lewis from catching the ball.
However, no penalty was called on the play, so the Saints had to go for a field goal right away. This gave the Rams enough time to answer and send the game into overtime. During overtime, Brees threw an interception during the opening drive, and the Rams marched into field goal range to win, 26-23.
“It was simple. They blew the call. They said it should never have not been a call,” Payton said after the game. “They said not only was it interference, it was helmet-to-helmet. They just —they couldn’t believe it.”
Payton went on to complain that it was the type of penalty that would have been called “if we were playing pickup football in the backyard.”
Robey-Coleman said he was surprised there was no penalty on the play.
“I thought it was for a split-second; but the ref got up — when I got up, he said, ‘Incomplete,’ so I just was like, ‘Thank you,’” Robey-Coleman said. “I didn’t look back at the ball. I didn’t play the ball. If I had played the ball, then it would’ve been a different story… And then the ref said, like, it looked it was a tip. Like, it was, like, tipped. So I was like, ‘OK, cool.’”
“I feel like it was obvious. I mean, there it is. Everybody know it was obvious,” Lewis said. “I mean, there is nothing else. … I don’t know what else to say about it.”
The Rams will now play the AFC Championship Game winner in Super Bowl LIII on Feb. 3. It is the first time the Rams are playing in the championship game since losing Super Bowl XXXVI at the end of the 2001 season.
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