New Orleans Has The Right To Complain About Brutal Non-Call Forever

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This was not your standard bad call. This was not a questionable penalty made in the third quarter. This was not something that could have easily been overcome with some focus and some gusto. 

This was a missed call that literally took a Super Bowl trip away from the Saints.

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Putting this one in bold, here: That one missed call made it 21 percent less likely that the Saints would win the game. 

That one missed call turned a 91 percent chance of winning to a 70 percent chance of winning. 

This was no ordinary blown call. This was as significant a blown call as could ever be imagined.

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To ignore the complete change in status from “almost certainly winning” to “has a chance to win” and to then deride the Saints for not winning is to miss the whole point.

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Sean Payton’s play calling in that situation was bold and aggressive, which some would consider risky. But it also worked. 

The Rams were completely out of position to make a stop on that play. The Saints would have had a first down and could have drained almost the entire clock. 

The officials just didn’t do their job.

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Here’s what smells the most about this whole thing. Bill Vinovich was the referee for this game. 

It was not his responsibility to throw a flag for pass interference, as he’s in the backfield. He’s looking for roughing the passer or holding or hands to the face along the line. So the fact that a flag didn’t come out for pass interference is not his fault. (The responsibility would lie with the field judge or, in some cases, the back judge or the line judge.) 

However … what is his fault is that he lied after the game. 
Vinovich had to face the music and speak to a pool reporter after the game. 

His answers were completely gutless, displaying the type of pass-the-buck mentality that comes from the top. 
“It’s a judgment call by the officials,” Vinovich said. “I personally have not seen the play.” 

The reporter asked a follow-up question: “You said you didn’t see the play, correct?” 
Vinovich replied: “Correct.” 

That’s all well and good, but the thing with the NFL is that there are cameras everywhere. 

Vinovich, as a referee who sees multiple camera angles on every replay, has to know that. So he had to have known that footage would emerge of him staring directly at the play. 

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Vinovich’s answer was a complete and total cop-out. And it was also proven with video evidence to be a lie. 

That’s why the world can’t simply sit back and say “Well it was a bad call but the Saints still could have won the game.” 

That lets far too many people off the hook, people who deserve to be held accountable for what took place. 

That includes the officials on the field, it includes Vinovich for not telling the truth, and it includes commissioner Roger Goodell, who’s been startlingly silent throughout this entire ordeal. 

This is a league that lacks leadership, and this instance is just the latest example. 

Shifting the blame to the Saints just lets too many people off the hook. 

For every organization not based in New England, Super Bowls are rare moments.

The Saints, in their 52-year history, have had the honor of playing in the Super Bowl just once. 

This was their chance to play in the NFL’s biggest game for just the second time ever. 

It was taken away from them. The players, coaches, and fans have every right to make as big a deal out of this one as they want, and for however they long they want.

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