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Monday’s Hot Clicks: An Obscure NFL Rule Would Allow for a Rams-Saints Do-Over

It’ll never happen, but...

Dan Gartland

Monday’s Hot Clicks: An Obscure NFL Rule Would Allow for a Rams-Saints Do-Over
Monday’s Hot Clicks: An Obscure NFL Rule Would Allow for a Rams-Saints Do-Over /

It’ll never happen, but...

monday-hot-clicks-rams-saints-pass-interference-rule-17.jpg
Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Everyone agrees that Nickell Robey-Coleman’s egregious pass interference that went unpenalized changed the fabric of the NFC Championship Game. Robey-Coleman himself admits it was a penalty. The no-call forced the Saints to settle for a field goal in the final minutes instead of being awarded a first down, which would have allowed them to at least run more time off the clock if not score a touchdown.

People in New Orleans will be playing “what if” for years, but it turns out Roger Goodell has the power to turn the hypothetical into reality. As Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio points out, an obscure NFL rule gives the commissioner the authority to overturn the result of the game and force Los Angeles and New Orleans to replay the end of the game.

“The Commissioner has the sole authority to investigate and take appropriate disciplinary and/or corrective measures if any club action, non-participant interference, or calamity occurs in an NFL game which the Commissioner deems so extraordinarily unfair or outside the accepted tactics encountered in professional football that such action has a major effect on the result of the game,” Rule 17, Section 2, Article 1 states. 

Article 3 of the same rule gives the commissioner the authority to reverse the result of the game and order it be played again “either from the beginning or from the point at which the extraordinary act occurred.”

If Goodell weren’t the spineless chump we already know him to be, he could throw a flag all the way from Park Avenue, award the Saints a first down at the spot of the Robey-Coleman interference and summon both teams back onto the field in New Orleans to decide fair and square who gets to go to the Super Bowl.

I’ve never wanted a thing to happen so badly in my entire life. Could you imagine the chaos? Could you imagine the takes? Could you imagine the reaction in New Orleans if the Saints just lost again after all that? Do it, Goodell.

Dee Ford could have saved us all

The Chiefs would have been heading to the Super Bowl if Dee Ford hadn’t negated a game-sealing interception the Patriots’ final drive of regulation by lining up in the neutral zone. Instead, Tom Brady was able to lead a go-ahead drive and force Patrick Mahomes to engineer his own miracle comeback to send the game to overtime. 

New Orleans will never get over that blown call

Who knows what would have happened if Nickell Roby-Coleman’s big hit had correctly been flagged as pass interference, but Saints fans are going to be thinking about that call for years to come.

In reality, the refs were garbage all game long,

It didn’t take long for the city to start broadcasting its panic. 

Todd Gurley isn’t about to apologize, though. 

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Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.

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Dan Gartland
DAN GARTLAND

Dan Gartland is the writer and editor of Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, covering everything an educated sports fan needs to know. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).

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