The play that drew the most attention from the NFC Championship game Sunday between the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints was an incomplete pass by the Saints with no flag for pass interference by the Rams.
However, everyone in the Fox broadcast booth, including its rules specialist, declared a flag should have been called by either of the two referees near the play. The NFL later confirmed that the referees missed the call on the field which, by rule, is not a reviewable call.
The no-call later helped Rams tie the game with a field goal, and then win it, 26-23, in overtime.
Not long after the game, an eye center in Covington, Louisiana, made an offer for free eye exams to all NFL referees, especially those leaving the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday evening.
"We will GLADLY provide no cost eye exams to all NFL officials prior to next season to prevent the atrocity that occurred tonight," Louisiana Family Eyecare posted on Facebook Sunday night. "We would hate for someone else to feel our pain."
After having time to consider things we will GLADLY provide no cost eye exams to all NFL officials prior to next season...
Posted by Louisiana Family Eyecare on Sunday, January 20, 2019
An eye center in College Station, Texas, posted a similar statement on Twitter, just in case the referees needed to detour through the Lone Star State.
"In light of the atrocious lack of calls during the New Orleans Saints game, we would like to extend free eye exams and glasses to any NFL referee in need. You know who you are," Crystal Vision Center tweeted.
In light of the atrocious lack of calls during the New Orleans Saints game we would like to extend free eye exams and glasses to any NFL referee in need.
— CrystalVisionCenter (@CrystalVisionCS) January 21, 2019
You know who you are.
On the questionable play, New Orleans had the ball on third down when quarterback Drew Brees fired a pass toward the right sideline to receiver Tommylee Lewis inside the 5-yard line. But before the pass arrived, Rams cornerback Nickel Robey-Coleman launched into Lewis knocking Lewis away in what looked like pass interference.
Robey-Coleman looked around and didn't see a flag, and he knew he got away with one.
"Came to the sideline, looked at the football gods and was like, `Thank you," Robey-Coleman said. "I got away with one tonight."
WIll Lutz hit a 31-yard field goal to give New Orleans a 23-20 lead with 1:41 to go. However, had the play been called correctly, the Saints would've gotten the ball inside the 5-yard line, and could have run the clock inside 10 seconds before a field-goal attempt, leaving the Rams virtually no time remaining to tie or win the game.
But the Rams got the ball, drove halfway down the field and kicked a field goal to send it to overtime. The Rams got an interception in overtime, and kicker Greg Zuerlein booted a 57-yard field goal to win it, sending Los Angeles to the Super Bowl to face the New England Patriots.
Social media lit up with angry Saints fans, but it didn't stop there with Bird Box memes and other jabs at the referees. A highway sign on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway — typically used for messages like weather, traffic delays and Amber Alerts — simply read: "We Were Robbed."
The New Orleans Times-Picayune ran a giant headline on the front page Monday that said: "Reffing Unbelievable."
The Rams and Patriots will play Super Bowl LIII on Feb. 3 in Atlanta.
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