After a season of setting records on offense, the last throw of Saints' quarterback Drew Brees' season was an unfortunate first. The Ram's John Johnson picked off Brees after Dante Fowler pressured him on third down while the Saints were attempting to score on their first, and only, drive in overtime.
Via ESPN Stats & Info:
That was Drew Brees' 1st career interception in overtime.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 20, 2019
The pick set up Greg Zuerlein for a 57-yard field goal, and the Rams moved on 26-23. This game will likely be remembered for the missed defensive pass interference call that the refs didn't make on Los Angles. Had the Saints been given a new set of downs, they would have been able to wind down the clock, preventing the game from going to overtime at all.
Brees' pick was their only turnover of the day, he also threw for 249 yards and two touchdowns. The Saints offense wasn't its standard explosive self, they were held under 300 total yards while the Rams had 378. Neither Alvin Kamara or Mark Ingram got anything going on the ground, they combined for 46 rushing yards.
It's a disappointing end to a phenomenal season by Brees. The 40-year-old quarterback paces the league by completing 74.4% of his passes to go with 3,992 passing yards and 32 touchdowns against five interceptions. The Saints were the number one seed in the NFC, but are staying home, in large part because of a missed call.
After the game, head coach Sean Payton told reporters that he had just got off the phone with the league office and “they blew the call.” Not only was the hit on Lewis pass interference, there was also a helmet-to-helmet infraction. Payton said the league told him, “I don't know if there was ever a more obvious pass interference call.”
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