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Missed pass-interference penalties can be challenged in the Canadian Football League. Those plays might be reviewable in the NFL next season, too, after the worst missed call in recent memory likely cost the Saints a Super Bowl berth.

With just under two minutes remaining in Sunday’s NFC championship game and the score tied at 20, the Saints were well within field goal range after Ted Ginn Jr. caught a ball over safety Lamarcus Joyner at the Rams’ 13-yard line. Three plays later the Saints faced a third-and-10, and a conversion would’ve meant that they’d be able to bleed the clock to near double zeros and attempt a chip-shot field goal that would’ve likely sent them to the Super Bowl. Brees looked for receiver Tommylee Lewis, but Lewis got creamed by Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman NFL Street–style before the ball came in.

How is this not a flag??pic.twitter.com/9eux632JpH — Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 20, 2019

It’s as obvious a pass-interference penalty as you’ll see. There was only one problem: A flag never came.

If the Rams win, these refs are gonna be run outta town with torches and pitchforks because of this no call on a clear Pass Interference #NFCChampionshipGame #LARvsNO pic.twitter.com/mwFGurxgcz — That Blind Ref (@ThatBlindRef) January 20, 2019

The refs had been reluctant to call pass interference earlier in the game, including this noncall on Robey-Coleman on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Pass interference not called on the Rams defense. #LARvsNO. More in the liveblog: https://t.co/3ngvJtj1qw https://t.co/YKIwRlXCPU — Fᴏᴏᴛʙᴀʟʟ Zᴇʙʀᴀs (@footballzebras) January 20, 2019

But the hit on Lewis took it to another level. It was a mauling, and it looked like the rule-book definition of pass interference: He hit the receiver before the pass got there and didn’t play the ball. But it went uncalled in the biggest moment of the NFC championship game.

Robey Coleman: “Yes, I got there too early. I was beat, and I was trying to save the touchdown. — Robert Klemko (@RobertKlemko) January 20, 2019

After the game Robey-Coleman told ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry that a referee said that the play was not called a penalty because the ball was tipped, making contact between him and Lewis legal. Looking at the video, it doesn’t seem like the ball was tipped by anyone.

When showed the replay by The Washington Post’s Adam Kilgore, the cornerback agreed it looked like pass interference.

He hadn't seen it, so I showed Nickell Robey-Coleman the replay of his hit on Tommylee Lewis. "Oh, hell yeah," he said. "That was PI." While admitting that, he also gave a fascinating, entirely convincing breakdown of why and how it was a smart play. — Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) January 21, 2019

Saints coach Sean Payton said at his postgame press conference that the refs blew the call, and he had already contacted the league office.

New Orleans was forced to kick the field goal, leaving the Rams 1:41 to come back down the field.

Let's look back at the end of that Rams vs. Saints game one more time. #LARvsNO pic.twitter.com/lx8p00Ll1A — The Ringer (@ringer) January 20, 2019

And come back they did. The Rams set up kicker Greg Zuerlein in field goal range in nine plays in under 90 seconds. Zuerlein’s 48-yard kick faded in line for a make and then back out for the miss, seemingly confirming the edict “ball don’t lie.” But the ball swerved back through the uprights at the last second.

The game went to overtime, and it didn’t take long for “ball don’t lie” to fail the Saints again. Three plays into the opening drive of OT, Brees was hit while throwing by Dante Fowler Jr., and the wounded-duck pass ended up in the arms of Rams safety John Johnson III.

Rams D making BIG catches pic.twitter.com/YJGroeby01 — The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) January 20, 2019

Five plays, two minutes, and nearly 75,000 broken hearts in the Superdome later, Zuerlein nailed the game-winning 57-yard field goal. From Payton to Mark Ingram to Cam Jordan, the Saints struggled to put the feeling into words in the locker room after the game. One year after the Minneapolis Miracle, the Saints were felled by perhaps the worst officiating mistake of the decade. Sometimes, the ball does lie. Perhaps we should consult the Canadians.