VIDEO: Side-by-Side of Kyle Rudolph TD and George Kittle Penalty Should Make Saints Fans Furious

As if the New Orleans Saints didn't already have a bone to pick with NFL referees over decisions on pass interference calls, more fuel may have been added to the fire on Super Bowl Sunday.

New Orleans did not reach the Super Bowl this year, nor did they last year, and Saints fans will tell you both outcomes were due to a pair of missed pass interference calls by NFL referees. Most recently, in this year's Wild Card round, the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Saints on a walk-off touchdown in overtime by tight end Kyle Rudolph. It was a play that involved a move some considered physical enough to warrant an offensive pass interference call.

On Sunday, San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle performed a similar move to that of Rudolph on that game-winning catch in New Orleans, but...well, lesser in severity, shall we say. Of course, the referees called Kittle for a penalty.

While the pass to Kittle was not a game-deciding play in overtime, it was still a critical call that affected the final score. A Kittle reception would have put the Niners in field-goal range with six seconds left in the first half. Instead, the half ended in a 10-10 tie.

Ironically, the Super Bowl's officiating crew was led by 58-year-old veteran Bill Vinovich, the same man who led the officiating in the Saints' infamous 26-23 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the 2018 NFC Championship game. That mess, of course, was a contest that featured a missed pass interference call that cost the Saints a trip to the Super Bowl LIII, and resulted in this past offseason's trial of pass interference challenges.