New Orleans Saints fans took their disdain for NFL referees to an unseemly level.
After last year’s controversial NFC Championship Game loss at home against the Rams, Saints fans were fuming again Sunday when their team was eliminated at home by the Vikings in the wild-card round, falling 26-20 in overtime, and they took it out on the referees, throwing trash at them as they left the field in New Orleans.
Kyle Rudolph was not called for pass interference for pushing off against P.J. Williams on the game-winning touchdown, and while it wasn’t nearly as egregious, it gave Saints fans déjà vu after Nickell Robey-Coleman got away with a blatant pass interference last year which likely cost the Saints a trip to the Super Bowl.
That play led to offseason rule changes which allow pass-interference calls to be challenged and reviewed. However, review didn’t help the Saints nearly a year after they felt robbed.
“We looked at all of the angles that Fox afforded us, and Fox gave us some great views,” NFL senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron said after the game. “There is contact by both players, but none of that contact rises to the level of a foul. This is consistent with what we’ve done all year long. We left the ruling on the field. We let it stand.”
