There is some concern in league circles about the NFL's judgment in allowing four game officials who live in Southern California to work the NFC Championship Game between the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints, according to sources.

Those same four officials were the ones most responsible for the non-call on Nickell Robey-Coleman's early, helmet-to-helmet hit on Tommylee Lewis that was widely viewed as pass interference.

Officiating assignments are given to teams on Monday, and there were no complaints from either the Rams or Saints in advance, according to a league source.

Brandin Cooks caught seven passes for 107 yards in the NFC Championship Game, but it was one pass that he didn't catch that propelled the Los Angeles Rams to victory.

When the Rams took over possession following an interception in overtime, Jared Goff threw a third-down pass to Cooks, who was four yards behind the line of scrimmage.

When it appeared certain that the play would be blown up, Cooks dropped a perfectly thrown ball by Goff.

"Brandin Cooks, talk about a smart football player," Sean McVay said. "Having the presence when I give him a terrible play call on the third down to drop it, knowing that it would have been a terrible play where he intentionally drops it."

"I think it's one of those things where you see what happened, one of the D-ends and Marshon [Lattimore], the way that they played it, being able to be in the backfield before I technically really was able to catch the ball and get upfield," Cooks explained, "I think it was more important to save those yards, not that Greg (Zuerlein) needs them, but rather play it safe than sorry."

Zuerlein won the game with a 57-yard field goal on the next play. Had Cooks caught the pass, the attempt would have been more than 60 yards.

"Yeah, I was not aware at the time that he did that intentionally," Goff said. "Afterwards, I found out that that was a pre-decision. I probably shouldn't have even thrown it to him. I should've just thrown it at his feet. But yeah, it was smart. Saved us about four yards there, made that kick 57 (yards) instead of 61. I think Greg would've made it from there, but I don't think we want to even chance that. So it was a good decision by him."

Benjamin Watson wrote an open letter to Roger Goodell criticizing him for not speaking about a no-call at the end of the New Orleans Saints' loss in the NFC Championship to the Los Angeles Rams.

“Commissioner Goodell. We all realize that football is an imperfect game, played, coached and officiated by imperfect people,” Watson writes in the tweet. “What occurred last Sunday in New Orleans though, was outside of that expected and accepted norm. Your continued silence on this matter is unbecoming of the position you hold, detrimental to the integrity of the game and disrespectful and dismissive to football fans everywhere. From the locker room to Park Ave, accountability is what makes our league great. Lead by example. We are waiting.”

Goodell will hold his annual news conference next week before the Super Bowl.

Fans of the New Orleans Saints continue to express their displeasure over Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game.

They have reacted in a number of ways -- from lawsuits and petitions, to billboards in Atlanta, to boycotts throughout the New Orleans area, to a letter from Louisiana's governor to Roger Goodell.

At least two lawsuits have been filed by local attorneys on behalf of Saints fans who want the final two minutes of the game to be replayed.

The Saints have taken no formal action against the league so far, but owner Gayle Benson released a statement Monday saying she has "been in touch with the NFL regarding yesterday's events and will aggressively pursue changes in NFL policies to ensure no team and fan base is ever put in a similar position again."

While Sean McVay felt bad for the New Orleans Saints on the referees no-call on an obvious pass interference penalty, the Los Angeles Rams saw a blatant no-call against them on their previous drive.

A.J. Klein grabbed Jared Goff's facemack, which would have given the Rams a first down on the Saints' one-yard line to take a 24-20 lead. The Rams instead tied the game with a field goal.

“When you slow it down, clearly you can see some of the things that took place. If you want to do that on every single play, though, there’s a lot of instances. You want to slow some things down with a facemask on Goff, some different things,” McVay said. “What we try to do a good job of understanding is that it is an imperfect game.”

McVay also reflected on the no-call on pass interference.

“I’m not going to sit here and say there clearly wasn’t a little bit of contact before that ball actually arrived,” Rams coach Sean McVay said Monday. “But whether he catches it or not, there’s a lot of things that go into that. ... I feel bad for when it occurred in the framework of the game, but I thought (Saints coach) Sean (Payton) said it best: There’s a lot of other opportunities, and there’s a lot of things that do dictate and determine the outcome of the game.”

The early window Conference Championship game had its lowest television rating since 49ers-Falcons had a 26.1 in 2013.

The Rams' win over the Saints had a 27.1 rating on Fox, which was up from last year's Vikings-Eagles game in the evening window.

New England's win over the Chiefs had a 31.2 overnight rating, which is the highest overnight rating for the evening game since the Giants' win over the 49ers in 2012.

Sean Payton says the NFL's head of officials told him the officials "blew the call" by not penalizing the Los Angeles Rams for pass interference late in the fourth quarter of Sunday's NFC Championship Game.

Payton added that he and the New Orleans Saints will "probably never get over it" after the Rams went on to win 26-23 in overtime.

"For a call like that not to be made, man, it's just hard to swallow. And then to get a phone call ..." Payton said, trailing off. He added: "We spoke initially, then I called to follow up. And the first thing [head of officials Alberto Riveron] said when I got on the phone -- 'We messed it up.'

"Listen, it's a hard job for those guys 'cause it's happening fast. But I don't know if there was ever a more obvious pass interference call that -- here it is, the NFC Championship Game. So, it's a tough one to swallow."

The call in question came with 1:45 left in regulation on a third-and-10 play from the Rams' 13-yard line. The score was tied 20-20.

Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman appeared to run into Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis and make helmet-to-helmet contact before the ball arrived -- sending the raucous Superdome crowd into a chorus of boos when no flag was thrown.

The NFL's Final Four for the 2018 season features four of the top-5 offenses in the league, according to Football Outsiders' DVOA.

The Kansas City Chiefs rank first, followed by the Los Angeles Rams at No. 2, the New Orleans Saints at No. 4 and the New England Patriots at No. 5.

The Patriots defeated the fourth ranked Los Angeles Chargers to reach the AFC Championship.

The combined over/under for both Championship Games is the highest in NFL history.

The NFL has just two teams ranking in the top-10 in DVOA on both Offense and Defense at the end of the regular season in the Los Angeles Chargers and Indianapolis Colts.

The Chiefs, Steelers, Seahawks, Rams, Packers, Falcons, Patriots and Saints also rank in the top-10 on offense, while the Cowboys, Jaguars, Texans, Bears, Vikings, Broncos, Ravens and Bills are in the top-10 on defense.

The Chiefs rank first in the NFL in both Total DVOA and Weighted DVOA.