Vinovich is one of the league's best officials.
The non-call in the 2018 NFC championship game was horrendous. But I will always maintain that talk of conspiracy is crazy and that the non-call was the product of lack of competence and lack of courage.
We can debate whether the NFL secretly wanted Los Angeles in the Super Bowl. Based on TV ratings, the Saints were an attractive draw.
However, back to the game. So the NFL rigged the officiating for the Rams to win. Yet in the game, the Saints were called for only three penalties for 20 yards whereas the Rams were penalized seven times for 64 yards. And the officials decided to wait until two minutes to pull a fast one, counted on the Saints defense to allow the Rams without timeouts to go down the field and tie the game, let the Saints get the first possession in overtime, called defensive pass interference against the Rams in that first possession, and then counted on Brees throwing an interception and the Saints defense allowing the Rams to advance far enough so they could kick a 57-yard field goal to win the game.
Conspiracy? Who was involved? So Park Avenue contacted game officials and directed that the Rams win. How many were involved? And to this day, no direct evidence of what would have been the dumbest conspiracy in the history of mankind because those participating would have been engaging in criminal conduct that would have sent to people to prison, wrecked the value of every NFL franchise and would have been the biggest sports story ever to achieve what again.
I was there. The officials were letting them play. It happens in the playoffs. And sometimes in the last two minutes, they swallow their whistles. They shouldn't to the extent they sometimes do. Certainly one, if not both, of the officials near the penalty decided they did not want to throw a flag with two minutes to go that would have decided who won a championship game.
Again, the non-call was egregious and definitely should have been called. The official who waved off the second official should have been disciplined by the league for his incompetence. After the game, the league office should have candidly conceded the mistake. But a league-directed conspiracy? Only in this age when we believe nothing yet seemingly believe everything.