New Orleans Saints lose on missed pass interference against Vikings

In the final play of the stunning Wild Card upset between the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints, the referees missed a pass interference and didn’t even review it.

The New Orleans Saints had struggled all day against the Minnesota Vikings in the 2020 first-round Wild Card playoff matchup. After a back and forth matchup featuring multiple Saints turnovers for the first time this season, the Vikings scored a “touchdown” in overtime.

However, the reason for the quotation marks around touchdown is because the recipient of the Kirk Cousin’s pass Kyle Rudolph pushed off Marcus Williams in the back of the endzone to gain the separation necessary to make that catch.

The referees did not call the pass interference on the initial play, but the review showed a clear push off by Rudolph to get the pass. When he scored, the stadium went crazy, the Vikings went crazy and because of that, the referees were so flustered that they refused to review the play.

Had that been normal in gameplay, the scoring play would have been reviewed and most likely overturned based on what we saw in the replay. Why they did not review that call is heartbreak to all New Orleans Saints’ fans.

I understand that the Saints should have never been in the situation they were in, but that doesn’t change the rules. Rudolph clearly extended his arm creating separation between him and Marcus Williams. According to the offensive pass interference rules in the NFL, that is an easy call.

The New Orleans Saints are now taking another early exit from the playoffs due to a no-call. A deja vu of the Rams/Saints game last year that ended the Saints playoffs hopes because of a missed pass interference call.

Unfortunately, the New Orleans Saints are on the bad end of yet another playoff phenomenon. The playoffs and referees continue to haunt the New Orleans Saints in the playoffs.

Will the NFL take a look at it again to say it was a pass interference?