It has been seven months since the Los Angeles Rams NFC Championship victory over the New Orleans Saints. The Rams narrowly won in overtime following a very controversial no-call in favor of the Rams.
Although the past is the past, Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman still faces questions about his hit on Saints wide receiver Tommylee Lewis. Robey-Coleman hit Lewis hard well before the pass was even possible to catch, and the Rams are not hiding from that fact despite benefitting from the non-pass interference call.
Due to the clearly missed call in the NFC Championship that could have greatly changed the outcome of the game, the NFL will now allow pass interference calls to be reviewed. The rule is only in place for 2019 as of now but allows for coaches to challenge defensive pass interference calls, offensive pass interference calls and non-calls. It also allows the referees to review pass interference calls in the last two minutes of each half.
With the Rams and Saints facing off for an NFC Championship rematch this Sunday, the hit from Robey-Coleman has been given new life. According to Lindsey Thiry of ESPN, Robey-Coleman is fine with the rule change:
“I didn’t expect it to get that much pub, but it is what it is,” Robey-Coleman said. “They made it into what it is and the league made it a rule. Just got to live with it now and it’s a rule that the whole league is going to have to adjust to. We don’t have no problem with it.”
Adjusting to the rule should not be too different. Rams receiver Robert Woods said they will put more pressure on referees to go to review, but it seems that the actual rule of pass interference has not changed much. It will be interesting to see how much it will affect games moving forward.
Obviously, last year’s NFC Championship game was greatly altered by the lack of a call. Despite that, both teams had multiple chances to put the game to bed before it extended into overtime, where the Rams kicked a game-winning field goal to advance to the Super Bowl.
Rams head coach Sean McVay acknowledged that although that missed call certainly helped, the team will not be dwelling on it:
“We’re not going to complain either way,” McVay said. “And that happened to end up working to our advantage, but we talk about it all the time, it’s got to be that next-play mindset mentality. That was one that definitely benefited us, but there’s a lot of plays in the game.”
The Rams certainly earned their victory in the overtime period. Although the upcoming rematch will be nothing more than a regular-season game, it could be a chance to put this issue to rest.
