New Orleans Saints fans weren’t the only ones in a daze after the team lost the NFC championship game to the Los Angeles Rams in controversial fashion.
Coach Sean Payton waited more than a week to hold his traditional end-of-season press conference – he was still recovering.
Payton told reporters Wednesday he locked himself up with entertainment and comfort food to help him get over the 26-23 overtime loss to the Rams on Jan. 20.
“I would say, honestly, after the game, for two to three days, much like normal people, I sat, probably didn’t come out of my room, I ate Jeni’s ice cream and watched Netflix for three straight days,” Payton said, via NewOrleansSaints.com. “There’s certain vices you gravitate to. For me, it’s probably sugar.”
The disappointment stems largely from an obvious blown call late in regulation, when Rams defensive back Nickell Robey-Coleman was not flagged for pass interference or helmet-to-helmet contact against Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis on a key third-down play. With no flag thrown and the pass incomplete, New Orleans kicked a field goal to go up 23-20 before Los Angeles tied the game and then won in overtime.
Like everyone else, Payton and the Saints will have to watch as the Rams meet the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII Sunday in Atlanta. But the bitterness over the NFC championship game loss is likely to linger for a while, even after Commissioner Roger Goddell admitted Wednesday that officials made a mistake.
“Much of what we told the team, obviously there are disappointments you go through relative to your season,” he said. “And this one, where it happened in the postseason, we’ve got to be able to get past that. And we will. We’ve got good leadership on this team.
“I don’t know that you ever completely get over it, but I think you do get past it. And there’s enough resolve, I think, that this time away is healthy. And when it starts back up again in the spring, and we’ll look at that calendar, you get back at it again.”
Payton added that he expects the NFL Competition Committee to look at ways to make such penalties reviewable.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.