The second half of the NFC Championship game is set to kick off at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and the Los Angeles Rams narrowly trail the New Orleans Saints 13-10. Here’s a brief recap of the scoring from the first 30 minutes: The Saints got on the board early with a Wil Lutz field goal (from 37 yards out) on the very first drive, making it 3-0 New Orleans . field goal (from 37 yards out) on the very first drive, making it . On the ensuing drive, a 3rd and 7 pass from Jared Goff to Todd Gurley was intercepted right outside the red zone. Lutz converted on a 29 yard-er to make it 6-0 Saints . to was intercepted right outside the red zone. converted on a 29 yard-er to make it . Following a 3-play, 2-yard drive by the Rams, the Saints marched 68 yards on 8 plays for a touchdown ( Drew Brees to Garrett Griffin - 5 yards). 13-0 Saints to - 5 yards). The Rams put together a nice drive - to include a Johnny Hekker fake punt - that ended with a Greg Zuerlein field goal with just under 7 minutes to play in the second quarter. 13-3 Saints with 6:50 left in Q2 fake punt - that ended with a field goal with just under 7 minutes to play in the second quarter. with 6:50 left in Q2 Jared Goff drops a 36-yard dime to Brandin Cooks , lining up Todd Gurley with 0:23 left in the half. Momentum has definitely swung in the Rams direction. Saints lead 13-10 Rams ball to start the second!<doc-sep>The New Orleans Saints’ crossing pattern that led to their first touchdown of the NFC Championship Game on Sunday could not have gone much better. As two Saints ran their routes late in the first quarter, they crossed paths. Michael Thomas and Garrett Griffin ran their routes so perfectly that the players defending them collided. Watch as Los Angeles Rams defensive backs John Johnson III and Marcus Peters slam into each other, leaving Griffin open for the easy touchdown:<doc-sep>No deliberation required to name the play that was the turning point for the New Orleans Saints on Sunday in the NFC Championship, a 26-23 overtime loss to the Rams in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. On the official play-by-play sheet, it's listed this way: 3-10-LA 13 (1:49) (Shotgun) D. Brees pass incomplete short right to T. Lewis. The long version is the Saints, tied at 20-20 with the Rams, were facing third-and-10 at the Rams' 13-yard line with 1:49 left when quarterback Drew Brees took the snap from shotgun formation, and threw incomplete for receiver Tommylee Lewis on the right sideline. The longer version is that Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman tackled Lewis, and made helmet-to-helmet contact, well before the football arrived. Almost everyone inside the Superdome, including Robey-Coleman, expected a penalty. Almost everyone inside the Superdome was wrong. The call wasn't made and the Saints settled for Wil Lutz's 31-yard field goal with 1:41 left to take a 23-20 lead. If the call had been made, the Saints would have had first-and-goal inside the 10-yard line. And given that the Rams only had one timeout remaining, New Orleans essentially could have run down the clock to 10 seconds or so before having Lutz attempt a field goal.<doc-sep>Stephen A. Smith says the missed call is on the league office for not changing the rules. (2:02) Los Angeles Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman has been fined $26,739 by the NFL for a helmet-to-helmet hit on New Orleans Saints wide receiver Tommylee Lewis that was not flagged during the NFC Championship Game, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Friday. League sources also told Schefter that Saints coach Sean Payton reached out to the league to see how it was going to publicly handle the controversial ending to regulation. Robey-Coleman appeared to run into Lewis, but was not flagged, before the ball arrived from Saints quarterback Drew Brees on third-and-10 at the Rams' 13-yard line with 1 minute, 45 seconds remaining in a 20-20 game. Sources said Payton spoke to NFL head of officials Al Riveron, executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent and, eventually, commissioner Roger Goodell after calling all of them. Payton also texted with competition committee chairman Rich McKay, sources said. Robey-Coleman said that he is going to pay his fine and not appeal it. "I know I got fined today. I know everybody knows that. I'm gonna pay my fine," he said on Friday. "I know what happened. I'm gonna pay the fine. It was all good. And I'm moving on." The hit for which Robey-Coleman was fined happened on that same play in the final two minutes of regulation. A flag for pass interference would have given the Saints a first down, and New Orleans would have had a new set of downs and a chance to run time off the clock before attempting a short field goal with less than 20 seconds remaining. The Rams won 26-23 in overtime to advance to Super Bowl LIII, where they will face the New England Patriots on Feb. 3 in Atlanta. After the game, Robey-Coleman admitted he briefly thought the flag would come out but said that an official on the field told him he suspected the ball was tipped, which replays clearly showed was not the case. No penalty was called, although Payton said Riveron told him the officials "blew the call" by not penalizing Robey-Coleman. "It was simple. They blew the call. They said it should never have not been a call," Payton said after the game of the explanation he received. "They said not only was it interference, it was helmet-to-helmet. They just -- they couldn't believe it." News of the fine also drew a reaction from Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas, who had been fined during the regular season for his re-creation of a Joe Horn touchdown celebration. Man they fined me 30k for pulling out a phone tho 😂😂😂🤦🏾‍♂️💔 — Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) January 25, 2019 Cmon Roger do better 😂 — Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) January 25, 2019 The aftermath of the no-call has been significant, with players voicing their disbelief, lawsuits and petitions being filed, billboards posted in Atlanta, boycotts throughout the New Orleans area, and a letter from Louisiana's governor chastising Goodell. Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said Wednesday that the team had not heard anything from the league office since Sunday night. Loomis also deferred to Saints owner Gayle Benson's recent statement, in which she vowed to "aggressively pursue changes in NFL policies to ensure no team and fan base is ever put in a similar position again." Goodell also spoke to Benson, a source told Schefter. On Friday, Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was asked how Robey-Coleman was handling the situation surrounding the controversial no-call. "I think he's going to the Super Bowl," Phillips said. ESPN's Lindsey Thiry contributed to this report.<doc-sep>
The NFL has still not made an official statement about the missed pass interference call in the NFC Championship Game, but it does appear they are aware that hit at least took place. On Friday, the NFL fined Los Angeles Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman $26,739 for a helmet to helmet hit against New Orleans Saints wide receiver Tommylee Lewis near the end of regulation in the game on Sunday, according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter. By levying the fine, the league office has acknowledged that the collision was illegal, but are still silent when it comes to admitting that there should have been a flag thrown on the play. The NFC Championship Game was tied, 20-20, with under two minutes remaining, and, had the foul been called, would have placed the Saints in a position to run out the remainder of the game clock, kick the winning field goal, and likely advance to Super Bowl LIII. But instead, the Saints were forced to kick the go ahead field goal earlier than they wanted, affording the Rams enough time to mount a counter offensive the other way, kick the game tying field goal, and force the overtime period. From there, Drew Brees was intercepted and Los Angeles moved into position to win the game on another kick. Since the moment officials declined to flag Robey-Coleman for the interference, there has been widespread and almost universally negative reaction from Saints fans, NFL players from other teams, and scores of analysts and observers in the media. After the game, head coach Sean Payton said that he spoke with a representative from the league, who admitted to him that the foul should have been called, but since the controversial play itself, the league has not released an official statement, itself arousing even more negative reaction. Since the end of Championship Sunday, at least one lawsuit has been filed against the NFL, asking for a rematch of the NFC Championship Game, and the controversy has been referenced in a letter from Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, another from New Orleans mayor Latoya Cantrell, has been referenced on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, and in a petition featuring over a half million signatures from fans. For his part, the player responsible for the hit admitted he got there early. “Yes, I got there too early,” Robey-Coleman said. “I was beat, and I was trying to save the touchdown.”