It doesn't matter how bad of a call is missed. It makes no difference. A bad call is a bad call. A missed call is a missed call. No sin is worse then any other in the context of officiating.
And yet Vikings fans almost universally crticized parts of their team that day. Saints fans focus on one missed call and are letting Brees and Payton off the hook for their choke job. A historic choke job really. One of the worst at home in Championship history.
But it's not JUST Saints fans. It's pretty much everyone in the media and their mother.
It was actually two missed calls on one play which makes it even worse. They were pretty obvious, even in real time. You didn't have to slow it down frame by frame to see if there was something illegal.
Could Payton of called a better game, especially second half? Absolutely. People don't even mention the Rams fake punt that worked early in the 2nd Q. This was a team known to pull that play off all season. Saints should of been better prepared for that. You snuff that one out and at 13 with the ball just outside the Rams 20, it could of been game over at that point.
Payton has always been cute with his play calling and situational coaching in games, sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. For the most part this past Sunday, it didn't.
Historic choke job? That's funny. It was 13-0 end of 1st Q and by halftime it was 13-10. I think at one point midway through the 3rd Q it was 20-10 but credit to the Rams, they immediately answered that with a TD of their own to make it 20-17. Aside from Q1, it was a closely fought contest.