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(AP) — When the Los Angeles Rams‘ team bus rolled into their suburban training complex after a boisterous flight from New Orleans, the players and coaches were greeted by rowdy fans welcoming home the new NFC champions in the middle of the night.The Rams and their fans lost some sleep Sunday night — but not about that missed pass interference on Nickell Robey-Coleman that could have altered the outcome of Los Angeles’ 26-23 overtime victory in the NFC championship game.“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.”And after watching the tape of their remarkable win, the Rams had a few questions of their own for the officiating crew.Specifically, the Rams couldn’t understand how the refs didn’t call Saints linebacker A.J. Klein’s apparent grab of Jared Goff’s facemask on the Rams’ previous drive. A penalty would have given a first down to the Rams at the New Orleans 1, putting them in prime position to take a 24-20 lead with a touchdown with 5:03 to play.“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.”The Rams’ latest victory wasn’t perfect, but it was historic. This franchise is still deep in the years-long process of rebuilding its once-huge fan base in Southern California after 21 years away in St. Louis.A trip to the Super Bowl in just their third season back home is an awfully good way to send that process into warp speed.The Rams are headed to their first Super Bowl in 17 years. The Rams had only two winning seasons in between those Super Bowl runs, but McVay’s team has swiftly reversed years of failure and put the Rams on the brink of Los Angeles’ first NFL championship since the 1983 season, when the Raiders won it all.“We’ve been through a lot Zach Gentry Jersey , and for us to go out there and grind through all this adversity just shows you how close we are in this room,” said guard Rodger Saffold, the longest-tenured Rams player in his ninth season. “The fans were excited for us to come back, and now, three years later, we’re on the biggest stage in sports. The city is electric for us.”Aside from the late-game theatrics and twists, the Rams’ victory was even more surprising because of the relatively small role played by their biggest offensive star.Todd Gurley touched the ball only five times, while backup C.J. Anderson led the Rams’ meager rushing game with 44 yards. Gurley was on the field for 32 snaps to Anderson’s 37, but last season’s Offensive Player of the Year didn’t look like himself.McVay on Monday reiterated his claim that Gurley is fully healthy even though the running back missed the Rams’ final two regular-season games with an injured knee.“He’s feeling good, and he sure looked pretty healthy on that touchdown run where he ran through guys and demonstrated some explosion,” McVay said. “More than anything, I’ve got to get him more opportunities.” CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints still have one of the league’s top-scoring offenses, but lately it’s the defense that’s been carrying the NFL’s most complete team.On a night when Brees and the offense couldn’t get much going and made some uncharacteristic mistakes, New Orleans put the clamps on Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers in a 12-9 victory on Monday night, moving the Saints into position to lock up home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs.“I believe in us, game in and game out Nick Bosa Jersey , first quarter to fourth quarter,” defensive end Cam Jordan said. “If it comes down to a crucial play, I believe in us.”Article continues below ...The Saints (12-2) held an opponent to 17 points or fewer for a sixth straight game. They limited Newton to 131 yards passing, sacked him four times and forced two turnovers. Carolina (6-8), which lost its sixth straight, had just 247 yards and 13 first downs. The Panthers’ only scores came on a trick play on fourth down and an interception return on a 2-point conversion attempt.“So proud of the defense,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “I thought they were outstanding. It’s tough to win a division game on the road and we were able to do that.”Alvin Kamara had 103 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown, and Brees had 203 yards passing for the Saints, who took a one-game lead in the NFC over the Rams. The Saints close the season at home against Pittsburgh and Carolina; the Rams visit Arizona and host San Francisco.Newton struggled throwing the ball more than 10 yards downfield because of a lingering sore right shoulder. He said after the game he’s unsure what the injury is, but he mentioned his labrum and rotator cuff as possible issues. He has been limited in practice for weeks and doesn’t have the zip on the ball he normally has.So much for his boast that the Panthers were bringing a cup to steal the “juice” from the Saints.“(Newton) said something along the lines of they brought their own cup, a juice box or something, I don’t know what it was,” Jordan said. “But I do know that he’s got to go back to the refrigerator and pull out a bigger cup.”The Saints swept three games from the Panthers last season and knocked them out of the playoffs, prompting Jordan to send Newton a bottle of red wine in the offseason, while some other teammates gave him a broom. This loss likely ended Carolina’s playoff hopes again.Newton said his shoulder simply isn’t getting better — or worse — and he refused to blame the injury, saying, “I have to be better.”“Our defense played a hell of a game and we have to reward them L.J. Collier Jersey ,” Newton said. “We had two turnovers in the red zone and that comes down to execution.”TRICK PLAYSThe Panthers struck first after offensive coordinator Norv Turner dug into his bag of tricks.On a fourth-and-2 from midfield, Christian McCaffrey got a handoff, took a step toward the line, then stepped back and lofted a perfect pass over the middle to tight end Chris Manhertz, who was 15 yards behind the defense. Manhertz trotted into the end zone for a 50-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. It was McCaffrey’s first career pass attempt, although he threw two TD passes while at Stanford. He became the first non-QB to throw a TD pass in Panthers history.APPLE’S PICKEli Apple intercepted Newton in the end zone with 10 seconds left in the first half.“I knew they were going to take a shot,” Apple said. “They ran a fade route. I just tried to get my head around and make a play on the ball.”COSTLY TURNOVERSThe Panthers held the Saints in check for most of the third quarter, but the game changed when Panthers receiver D.J. Moore fumbled on an inside handoff. The Saints pounced, capping an 84-yard drive with a 16-yard TD run by Kamara to make it 12-7 early in the fourth quarter. The Saints went for 2, but Brees’ toss was intercepted by Donte Jackson, who took it back nearly 100 yards.That wasn’t the only time the Saints cost themselves a scoring opportunity. New Orleans was on the verge of taking the lead late in the second quarter, but James Bradberry intercepted Brees’ tipped pass and returned it to Saints territory.And New Orleans whiffed on a potential game-sealing touchdown when Tommylee Lewis fumbled near the goal line, leading to a touchback that gave Carolina one last chance to tie the game with 1:44 remaining. But the Panthers couldn’t move the ball and turned it over on downs.McCAFFREY SETS MARKMcCaffrey broke DeAngelo Williams’ single-season franchise record of 1,636 yards from scrimmage with a rush in the first quarter. He finished with 110 yards rushing and receiving.DUBIOUS STREAKThe loss extended the Panthers’ streak of never having posted back-to-back winning seasons since joining the NFL in 1995.OLSEN UPDATEPanthers tight end Greg Olsen had surgery on his right foot Monday, his second procedure on the foot in the last 16 months. “Surgery went well and I am on my way towards a full recovery,” Olsen wrote on Instagram.INJURIESSaints center Max Unger left the game in the first half after being evaluated for a concussion and did not return. He was replaced by Cameron Tom.UP NEXTSaints: Host the Steelers on Sunday.Panthers: Host the Falcons on Sunday.