Missed pass interference call likely costs Saints Super Bowl trip

NEW ORLEANS – The NFC Championship Game between the New Orleans Saints and the Los Angeles Rams was tied at 20.

The Saints faced a third-and-10 at the Rams 13-yard line with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

New Orleans was all but guaranteed a go-ahead field goal at a minimum and perhaps a touchdown that would all but guarantee overtime and greatly increase its chances of victory in regulation.

Drew Brees lofted a pass toward Tommylee Lewis and Rams defensive back Nickell Robey-Coleman ran into Lewis before the football arrived, making it impossible for the receiver to get to the ball. It was a textbook example of defensive pass interference, which would have given the Saints a first down at the 5.

But none of the officials threw a penalty flag. Not for pass interference, not for the helmet-to-helmet shot Robey-Coleman laid on Lewis.

“I popped up looking for a little yellow flag on the field,” Lewis said. “I didn’t see one.”

Robey-Coleman said he too was expecting a flag that never arrived.

“I thought that would have been a flag,” he said, “and (the Saints) would have scored on the next play.”

But it was fourth down instead of first down at the 5. Had the penalty been called the Saints could have used virtually all of the remaining time and forced L.A. to use its final timeout before kicking a field goal or scoring a touchdown.

Instead, Wil Lutz’s 31-yard field goal gave New Orleans a precarious three-point lead with 1:45 remaining.

Saints coach Sean Payton said he spoke with the NFL head of officials Alberto Riveron shortly after the game and was told they “blew” the call.

“For a call like that not to be made, man, it’s just hard to swallow,” Payton said. “We spoke initially, then I called to follow up and the first thing (Riveron) said when I got on the phone – ‘We messed it up.’

“Listen, it’s a hard job for those guys because it’s happening fast. But I don’t know if there was ever a more obvious pass interference call that. We’ll probably never get over it.”

They still had opportunities to overcome it, but the Rams drove to Greg Zuerlein’s tying 48-yard field goal with 15 seconds left.

On the first possession of overtime Drew Brees was hit and his pass fluttered into the hands of Rams defensive back John Johnson III at the L.A. 46.

L.A. got one first down before stalling. The Saints called a timeout, which didn’t faze Zuerlein on his 57-yardder just as a previous timeout didn’t faze him on a 45-yarder with 15 seconds left in regulation, forcing overtime.

Though the missed pass interference call denied the Saints an opportunity to take a stranglehold on the game, other opportunities that they squandered also hurt them.

Failing to get in the end zone on either of their first two drives and settling for a pair of field goals and a 6-0 lead was costly as was the failed first possession of overtime, which put the Rams within a first down of winning the game.

“There were plenty of opportunities for us offensively that we didn’t take advantage of,” Brees said.

The game was a near reversal of last week’s Divisional Playoff in which Philadelphia took a 14-0 first-quarter lead only to see New Orleans prevail 20-14.

This time the Saints led 13-0 only to the see the Rams tie the score before taking their only lead of the game on the final play.

“We let them get close to us,” Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan said. “We ended up having a 13-point lead at one point in time. You can’t ever let your foot off the gas. To their credit, they fought the entire game and ended up winning.”