NEW ORLEANS — Sean Payton was glassy-eyed, calm and shrugged his shoulders at times, seemingly resigned to New Orleans' bitter fate — as unfair as he thought it was.
And the Saints coach said NFL executives he spoke with by phone after a 26-23 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams agreed with him that officials on the field missed two obvious penalties on one late, game-turning play that might have prevented the Saints from advancing to the Super Bowl.
Officials could have called pass interference and helmet-to-helmet contact on Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman as he flattened Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis on an incomplete pass with 1:45 left in the game.