Sean Payton Says League Office Acknowledges Blown No-Call in NFC Championship
Saints head coach Sean Payton said he called the NFL office following his team's 26–23 loss to the Rams and officials told him they blew a controversial no-call on a potential pass interference.
Payton said the play was not only pass interference, but it was also helmet-to-helmet in the NFC Championship on Sunday.
Payton also said the team will never get over it, and said, "I hope no other team has to lose a game like we just lost that one... It’s disappointing."
The no-call came with under two minutes left in the game with the Saints on the Rams' 13-yard line. On a third-and-10 situation, quarterback Drew Brees threw an incomplete pass to Tommylee Lewis. But the Rams’ Nickell Robey-Coleman appeared to interfere. The Saints settled for a field goal to make the score 23–20 and gave Los Angeles one last drive attempt. The Rams tied up the game with a field goal to force overtime.
Los Angeles sealed the win with a 57-yard field goal from Greg Zuerlein.
A video shows Payton talking to the refs about the call.
Following the game, Robey-Coleman told ESPN's Lindsey Thiry that an official told him the ball got tipped.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that the NFL admitted its error and the call should have been have defensive pass interference.
