<noinclude> The 2018 National Football Conference (NFC) Championship Game was a National Football League (NFL) game played on January 20, 2019, to determine the NFC champion for the 2018 NFL season. The visiting Los Angeles Rams defeated the New Orleans Saints 26–23 in sudden death overtime to advance to Super Bowl LIII. The outcome, however, was mired in controversy because of a unpenalized pass interference committed by Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman on Saints wide receiver Tommylee Lewis near the end of regulation, which would be nicknamed the "NOLA No-Call".

The Saints entered the game slightly favored to win, due to being the NFC's top seed, having home field advantage at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, and previously defeating the Rams in the regular season. Both finished the regular season with a 13–3 record, with the Saints owning the head-to-head tiebreaker from their prior win over the Rams. In a tight contest that was tied at 20 in the fourth quarter, the Saints reached the Rams' 13-yard line with less than two minutes remaining, but the uncalled pass interference caused their drive to stall. Had the penalty been called, the Saints could have run out the clock further and/or scored a go-ahead touchdown to virtually seal their victory. Instead, the Saints settled for a field goal with 1:41 remaining, which the Rams matched on their next possession to force overtime. The Saints took possession first in overtime from winning the coin toss, but an interception from Saints quarterback Drew Brees led to Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein scoring the winning field goal.

The no-call was met with intense backlash, particularly in New Orleans, where Saints fans attempted to have the game replayed and boycotted the Super Bowl. Although both the NFL and Robey-Coleman admitted a penalty should have been called, league commissioner Roger Goodell determined that the no-call was an act of human error by the referees and not enough to reverse the game's outcome. Following the controversy, the NFL instituted a new rule for the 2019 season that would allow coaches to challenge pass interference calls, but reverted the rule the season afterwards.

Background

The Rams were in just their third season back in Southern California after having left Los Angeles after the 1994 season and spending 21 seasons in St. Louis, Missouri. Ahead of the 2016 season, their first back in Los Angeles, the Rams had the first pick of the 2016 NFL Draft and used it on quarterback Jared Goff. Under head coach Jeff Fisher, the Rams lost 11 of their last 12 games in 2016 (with Goff losing the last seven) resulting in Fisher's firing and the hiring of then 30-year old Sean McVay in the offseason, making him the youngest ever NFL coach in the modern era. Under McVay, the Rams experienced a complete turnaround in 2017, finishing 11–5, winning the NFC West for the first time since 2003 and reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2004, with significantly better play from Goff and running back Todd Gurley. In the playoffs, however, they were eliminated at home in the wild card round by the Atlanta Falcons.

The Saints, meanwhile, had more experience at the head coaching and quarterback positions, with 11-time Pro-Bowler Drew Brees in his 13th season as starting quarterback for New Orleans and Sean Payton in his 12th season as head coach. The pair had won a Super Bowl in 2009 (the franchise's first), and had reached the playoffs six times entering the 2018 season, but had not reached the NFC Championship game since winning the Super Bowl. In 2017, the Saints also finished 11–5 and defeated their divisional rival Carolina Panthers in the Wild Card Round before falling to the Minnesota Vikings in the Divisional Round after the Vikings scored a last-second touchdown that would become known as the Minneapolis Miracle. For the 2018 season, this was seen as the last and best chance for the Saints to reach the Super Bowl with Brees and Payton, since Brees would turn 41 by the next Super Bowl and quarterbacks' performances tended to drop at that age.

The 2018 regular season saw both the Saints and the Rams improve upon their 11–5 records to both go 13–3 and their respective divisions for the second year in a row. The Saints and Rams respectively secured the 1 and 2 seeds, ensuring they would get a first-round bye to the NFC Divisional Round. The Rams and Saints met in Week 9, the Rams having started the season an unblemished 8–0 while the Saints began the year 7–1. The Saints pulled out to an 18-point lead by halftime, with Michael Thomas managing 211 receiving yards during the game. The Rams fought hard but Jared Goff soon found himself unable to convert on back to back drives with one critical interception during the third quarter. Infamously during a critical play in the fourth quarter; Michael Thomas imitated Joe Horn's notorious cellphone celebration upon scoring a 72-yard touchdown in a simultaneous effort to taunt the Rams, as New Orleans had ultimately secured the lead and ended the Rams' win streak. The celebration led to Thomas being fined $30,000 for excessive celebration and multiple Rams players expressed their anger with Thomas' on-field antics during the loss. After the game, Sean Payton admitted that he felt good about Rams' cornerback Marcus Peters covering Thomas, saying he "liked that matchup—a lot." Peters responded by telling interviewers:

"Tell Sean Payton to keep talking that shit...We're going to see him soon, you feel me? Because I like what he was saying on the sidelines, too. So tell him to keep talking that shit, and I hope you see me soon. We're going to have a nice little bowl of gumbo together."

With the 45–35 win, the Saints gained the tie-breaker over the Rams with both teams at 8–1 after the game. The Saints lost control of the NFC's top playoff seed after a Week 13 loss at the Cowboys, but regained it for good following the Rams' back to back losses at the Bears in Week 14 and at home against the Eagles in a Week 15 upset. The Rams secured the second seed, one game ahead of the Bears.

In the Divisional Round, the Saints played the sixth-seeded and defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Although they fell behind 14–0 in the first quarter after Eagles quarterback Nick Foles scored two touchdowns, the Saints scored 20 unanswered points to win the game, with cornerback Marshon Lattimore intercepting Nick Foles in Saints territory on the Eagles' final drive. It was the Saints' first NFC Championship Game appearance since the 2009 season, when the Saints defeated the Minnesota Vikings en route to winning Super Bowl XLIV. The Rams played the fourth-seeded Dallas Cowboys and defeated them by a score of 30–22 as running backs C. J. Anderson and Todd Gurley each rushed for over 100 yards and combined for three touchdowns. It was the Rams' first NFC Championship Game appearance since the 2001 season, when they were based in St. Louis and defeated the Philadelphia Eagles to advance to Super Bowl XXXVI. It was their NFC Championship Game appearance while based in Los Angeles since the 1989 season, when they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers.

This was the first postseason matchup between the Rams and Saints since the 2000 Wild Card round in which the Saints upset the then-defending champion St. Louis Rams for the victory, back when both teams were division rivals in the NFC West.

The head referee of the game was Bill Vinovich; the Rams had lost the previous eight times when he served as head referee of a game in which they played. Before the game, some Rams fans began an unsuccessful petition to have him replaced with a different referee.

Game summary The Saints received ball to start the game, and drove 56 yards before a 37-yard Wil Lutz field goal gave them an opening 3–0 lead. On the ensuing drive, Rams quarterback Jared Goff's check-down pass went through the hands of running back Todd Gurley and was intercepted by Saints linebacker Demario Davis at Los Angeles' 17 yard line. However, New Orleans was unable to convert a first down with the great field position, and settled for another field goal to make the score 6–0. The Rams followed with a three-and-out and were forced to punt. This time, the Saints marched 63 yards in eight plays, culminating in a five-yard touchdown pass from Drew Brees to Garrett Griffin immediately following the Saints' drawing the Rams offsides on fourth down to extend the drive. The score gave New Orleans a 13–0 lead with 1:35 to play in the first quarter. In the early stages of the game, the noise in the Superdome appeared to be affecting Jared Goff's ability to hear play calls, so the Rams' covered the ear holes in Goff's helmet with tape to drown out some of the crowd noise.

Five plays into the Rams' ensuing drive, they were forced into another fourth down in their own territory and lined up to punt again, but this time executed a fake punt, with punter Johnny Hekker receiving the long snap and throwing outside to gunner Sam Shields, who evaded a defender to gain a first down. The Rams were able to continue the drive into Saints territory, with kicker Greg Zuerlein converting a 36-yard field goal to make the score 13–3 midway through the second quarter. After two punts by the Saints and one by the Rams, Goff completed four of six passes for 75 yards on the ensuing drive to set up a 6-yard Todd Gurley touchdown run, trimming the lead to 13–10 just before halftime.

The Rams opened the second half with a punt. The Saints then used several short Brees completions on an 81-yard touchdown drive, capped off by Brees' two-yard screen pass to Taysom Hill to stretch the lead to 10 points again. Los Angeles immediately responded with its own 75-yard touchdown drive, with Goff's one-yard completion to Tyler Higbee on third and goal making the score 20–17 in favor of the Saints with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter. The next three possessions all resulted in punts, with the Rams receiving the ball on their own nine-yard line with just under 11 minutes remaining in the game.

Trailing by three points, the Rams converted a third-and-three from their own 16 with a 39-yard completion from Goff to Gerald Everett. Two plays later, Goff completed a 33-yard pass to Josh Reynolds, bringing the Rams' to New Orleans' seven-yard line. On second-and-goal from the five, Jared Goff scrambled towards the goal line and had his face mask grabbed and turned by Saints linebacker A.J. Klein before going down at the two-yard line, but a face mask foul was not called. Had a foul been called for grasping of the face mask and a penalty assessed, the Rams would have had first-and-goal on the Saints' one-yard line with a great opportunity to potentially take a 24–20 lead. Instead, on third-and-goal from the two-yard line, running back C.J. Anderson was ruled to have been stopped just short of the goal line. On fourth down, Los Angeles elected to kick a field goal to tie the game at 20 with 5:03 remaining.

New Orleans returned the following kickoff to its own-30 yard line. On the third play of the drive, Brees converted a third down with a check-down pass to Alvin Kamara. Then, two plays later, he completed a 43-yard pass to a leaping Ted Ginn Jr. at the Rams' 13-yard line right at the two-minute warning. A Kamara run for no gain followed by an incompletion set up third and 10 with 1:49 remaining, with the score tied 20–20.

Controversial play