Saints coach Payton: NFL admitted blown non-call

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton said the NFL admitted that its officials missed a critical pass interference call late in the fourth quarter of Sunday's NFC Championship Game. The Los Angeles Rams capitalized on the lack of a flag, which forced the Saints to settle for a field goal and a 23-20 lead with 1:41 remaining, rather than running the clock down before kicking what would have been the game winner as time expired. With the extra time, the Rams forced overtime with a 48-yard field goal and won the game in the extra session to advance to the Super Bowl.

"The explanation ... it was simple," said Payton, who said he spoke with Alberto Riveron, the NFL's senior vice president of officiating, on the phone shortly after the game. "They blew the call. Not only was it (pass) interference, but it was helmet-to-helmet (contact). That was the first thing Al said. "...I don't know if there was ever a more obvious pass interference call. That's a tough one to swallow."

On third-and-10 with 1:49 remaining, quarterback Drew Brees lofted a pass for wide receiver Tommylee Lewis. Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman had his back turned to the ball and ran helmet-first into Lewis, clearly before the ball arrived. Lewis was knocked to the ground, away from the ball. Robey-Coleman admitted that he made contact before Lewis had a chance to catch the pass.

"Yes, I got there too early," he said. "I was beat, and I was trying to save the touchdown." Referee Bill Vinovich briefly addressed the play during a postgame interview with a pool reporter.

"It was a judgment call by the covering official," Vinovich said. "I personally have not seen the play. ...It is not a reviewable play." Considering the prominence of the non-call, Brees suggested it could lead to rules changes about reviewable plays in the future.

"I'm sure that because of this, as a result of this, there's going to be a lot of talk about (reviewing) game-changing plays within two minutes," he said. "Maybe that's something that will happen." But Brees and others said that one play did not define the entire game. The Saints failed to score touchdowns on a pair of early red-zone drives, instead settling for field goals, and the Rams picked off a pass in overtime to set up the win.

For his part, Rams coach Sean McVay said he could understand the non-call. "I just thought it was a bang-bang type play," he said. "One of the things I respected about the refs is that they let the guys play. I thought it was a competitive-type play. I'm certainly not going to complain about the way the play was officiated."

The NFL might want to move on from the controversial call as quickly as possible, but Rams running back Todd Gurley has other ideas. He posted a doctored photo on his Instagram account after the game that depicted him exchanging jerseys with Vinovich. Gurley, who has 1.4 million Instagram followers, accompanied the photo with three skull emojis and four laughing emojis.

The photo appeared to be edited from an original photo following a 2016 game, in which Gurley and Saints running back Mark Ingram were swapping jerseys on the field at the Superdome. Meanwhile, an electronic sign over the Pontchartrain Causeway near New Orleans offered a different message shortly after the game. Drivers who looked up at the sign saw three simple words in all-caps: "WE WERE ROBBED."

--Field Level Media