How many times do you see a ref throw a flag and then it gets picked up, and they say, "no penalty on the play?"....Seems they do it often, so why not throw a late flag on a flagrant fowl where the entire stadium erupts in protest?
It should be the field judge that throws that flag and makes that call and nobody else!
I hate when they say, "it's the playoffs, so the refs are letting them play!"....That's BS.

Yes Sir the NFL will be reviewing this game for sure and the officials as well!

I think the NFL should have to pay everyone with the Saint's organization the bonus $$$ they would have received had they won the NFC Championship. To say there were other plays the Saints could have made is kind of a loser mentality. This was a double penalty. Pass interference and helmet-to-helmet hit. The d-back even stated he thought he was going to get called. He never looked back and never played the ball, his words. I look at his blatant hit kind of like some NBA plays where I guy fowls and opponent to send him to the line rather than letting the opponent make the bucket to win the game. Complete BS on the part of the NFL. New York should have called down and stopped the game immediately for further review.

You can't expect the refs to be perfect every call or no-call. How would you fare out there making split second decisions? There will definitely be changes made, and we can now expect to make the game draw out a little longer. No-call reviews will be a part of the game. Let's see to what extent it will be......but it will happen.

No, but I can't expect a ref who is standing right there, looking straight at the players, to miss a simple call like that either.

Had the call been made properly, as it was obviously bad enough a partially blind person could have made, then the Saints could have run out the clock, and been in the Super Bowl.
Too big of a game to have such non officiating, and whoever that ref was that was right there needs to be looking for a job this morning.

I don't have a dog in the fight, but that one call was probably the worst I can ever remember as far as outcome of a playoff game (maybe Dez catch/no catch)

Actually some fans passed around a petition week prior to the game to get the referee crew changed because they had been so bad last couple times they were used, but NFL left it as is
BTW...The petition was started by Rams fans, not Saints fans

I guess we finally have an answer to who dat gonna beat dem saints.

It would take at least a few hundred people to throw an NFL game.....in this day and age of social media there is literally no way you could keep the news if a fix quiet. Would not happen. A disgruntled player that gets suspended and felt wronged, a coach that was ran off, a fired official etc would increase the odds that someone would talk.

I have to disagree with you there, that play was the worst no call in NFL history, and it was two blatant fouls with two refs standing right there, they screwed the Saints out of a SB, they also changed the legacy of many of the Saints players and coaches, there is absolutely no reason in the world to have missed that call, the entire officiating crew should be banned from the NFL. There has to be a new rule put in for play off games so a terrible call cannot decide the game, especially if a SB is at stake, no telling just how much money that cost the Saints organization. I am not a huge Saints fan, I did want them to win because of Brees and Peyton, no money or bragging rights were on the line for me, just calling it like I see it.

I�m not a big fan of the challenge flag. I think they give them two opportunities each half but yet they also do mandatory reviews within the last 2 minutes of each half. Hardly anyone uses both challenge flags.

I was thinking about this playoff debacle and I wonder if it would work or be a good idea to let them keep both challenge flags but limit it to one flag for a play challenge and one flag for a ruling challenge each half.

Unless you go to reviewing everything, I�m not sure how you eliminate the human factor totally. But something like what happened last night should not be allowed to be such a deciding factor in a game.

I'm with ya Scags. Biggest TV markets, sure makes you wonder.

Now.... if the NBA championship ends up Lakers-Celtics???

RayBob, watch the full Dee Ford offsides play that negated the Pick. Isn't the line judge supposed to be straddling the line? He is before the ball is snapped, then makes a quick step to the Chiefs side and throws the flag. Line judge Kent Payne moving around before throwing the flag. I'd sure like to see a straight view down the line of scrimmage.

I agree with you Mark, but what about the "no calls"? Calls can be disputed or challenged, but is there a mechanism out there to catch the ones where no flag is thrown? That's where someone could influence a game. NFL needs have a replay official that can call blatant calls like that one that was missed.