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Come Fan with UsTuesday, August 4, 2026

Sean Payton is handling Saints’ NFC Championship loss to Rams like a bad breakup

Ice cream and Netflix? We’ve all been there.

NFL: NFC Championship Game-Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans Saints
NFL: NFC Championship Game-Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans Saints
Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
Jeanna Kelley
Jeanna Kelley has been covering the Falcons for The Falcoholic since 2011 and the NFL for SB Nation since 2015.

The rest of the world has moved on to the Super Bowl. But for Sean Payton, the pain of losing the NFC Championship Game is lingering like a bad breakup.

Payton told Nick Underhill of The Advocate that he spent three solid days wallowing on his couch after the loss, eating Jeni’s ice cream and binging shows on Netflix. How relatable.

“There are certain vices you gravitate towards, and mine is probably sugar,” Payton said. “Much like what we told the team: Obviously there are disappointments you go through relative to your season, and this one where it happened in the postseason, we’ve got to be able to get past that and we will.”

So what did Payton binge watch? Something mindless and distracting like The Office or Parks and Rec? Something intense and all-consuming like Breaking Bad or Justified? Something au courant, like a Fyre Fest documentary?

Well, a deep dive into a serial killer’s life should put a blown call in better perspective, at least. Wonder what Payton thought about Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes.

Payton said he will probably watch the Super Bowl, per Luke Johnson of NOLA News. If Payton changes his mind, Netflix has him covered.

Roger Goodell finally addressed the issue publicly, saying on Wednesday during his press conference that the officials just aren’t going to get it right every single time.

“Whenever officiating is part of any kind of discussion post-game, it’s never a good outcome for us ... but we also know that our officials are human. We also know they are officiating a game in which they often have to make snap decisions under difficult circumstances,” Goodell said, via CBS Sports’ Ryan Wilson.

The blown call against defensive back Nickell Robey-Coleman still haunts Saints fans and Payton alike. Jeni’s Ice Cream is here to help on Super Bowl Sunday:

Time — and ice cream and Netflix binges — eventually will heal all wounds.

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