Sean Payton Talks Blown Call vs. Rams, Cam Jordan Jokes About 'Foot Locker' Ref

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton opted for a more diplomatic tone after his team was on the receiving end of an officiating mistake in Sunday's 27-9 defeat to the Los Angeles Rams.

In the second quarter, Cameron Jordan appeared to return a Jared Goff fumble for a touchdown. However, the referees blew the play dead, ruling the play an incomplete pass. The call was overturned on review, but New Orleans took possession at the 13-yard line rather than getting the six points.

Payton declined to dwell too much on the play, per Pro Football Talk's Charean Williams: "You can't focus... When we get poor officiating or we get an awful call like that, we can't control that. Our focus this week is going to be on cleaning up the penalties and making sure we got the right guys on the field, too."

Jordan was a little less measured in his response:

Al Riveron, the NFL's senior vice president of officiating, said the referees went by the rulebook when they spotted the ball at the 13-yard line but that crews are generally instructed to err on the side of caution and be more careful with the whistle:

When the Saints kicked off the regular season in Week 1 against the Houston Texans, fans still hadn't forgotten the missed pass interference in the 2019 NFC Championship Game. Exacerbating matters, Riveron admitted the referees from New Orleans' 30-28 win over the Texans made a mistake regarding a clock runoff at the end of the first half.

One week later, yet another contentious call went against the Saints.

At this rate, it's going to be a stressful year in the Big Easy.