The New Orleans Saints lost to the Los Angeles Rams in devastating fashion in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday, losing 26-23 in overtime and watching the Rams advance to the Super Bowl.

Los Angeles' win did not come without a whole lot of controversy, however.

With under two minutes to play in regulation, the Saints had the football deep in Rams territory in a 20-20 game. On third down, Drew Brees lofted the football to wide receiver TommyLee Lewis along the right sideline. As Lewis was lining up the catch in his sights, Los Angeles defensive back Nickell Robey-Coleman drilled Lewis long before the ball reached the receiver.

Obvious pass interference call, right?

Wrong.

The officials swallowed their whistles, stopping the clock and resulting in a fourth down for New Orleans. As a result, the Saints had to settle for a field goal, and enough time was left on the clock for the Rams to come back down the field and kick a field goal of their own to send the game into overtime.

Afterward, the city of New Orleans was obviously beside itself, resulting in a “We Were Robbed” sign appearing over Louisiana's Pontchartrain Causeway following the loss:

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GM Les Snead in the middle, Amarius Mims, Bo Nix, Xavier Thomas around him, and Los Angeles Rams wallpaper in the background

Enzo Flojo ·

It's hard to argue with that.

What makes this loss even more gut-wrenching for the Saints is that they led for most of the way, jumping out to a 13-0 lead and going up 20-10 midway through the third quarter.

As a matter of fact, the Rams did not draw even until the 5:03 mark of the final frame, and they never lead until Greg Zuerlein booted a 57-yard field goal in overtime to send Los Angeles to the Super Bowl.