Rams vs. Niners: Who's Coach Sean Payton Rooting For in NFC Championship Game?

Yes, in a teasing way, the 58-year-old coach with a Super Bowl win on his resume is "bitter'' about it.

This isn't really "bulletin-board material'' that adds much to Sunday's NFC Championship game showdown. But that doesn't mean the Los Angeles Rams can't use it that way.

"I just in a staff meeting told (the New Orleans Saints coaching staff) our record was 9-8, and we didn't get in the playoffs. We're rooting against the Rams right now because of that," Payton said.

Payton, who made the comments in his mid-week retirement announcement, was trying to be funny. If the Rams had beaten the 49ers in that Week 18 regular-season finale, his New Orleans team would have qualified for the playoffs instead of San Francisco.

And now? The surprising 49ers are in the conference finals, one win from the Super Bowl.

So yes, that could've been Payton and the Saints, and yes, in a teasing way, the 58-year-old coach with a Super Bowl win on his resume is "bitter'' about it.Payton, so often rumored to have left New Orleans so he could sneak his way into the Dallas Cowboys employ (which isn't happening any time soon), has every reason to respect the Rams. The numbers say it is so.

Payton went 4-6 overall against them, and that includes that overtime NFC title game loss. Additionally, he's struggled against head coach Sean McVay's Rams. Since McVay took the head coaching job for the Rams, he's crafted a 3-1 overall record against Payton and the Saints.

At the same time, Payton is comparing these 49ers to last year's Tampa Bay Buccaneers team - the team that won the Super Bowl.

"Confidence can develop, but it's from demonstrated behavior," Payton said. "And that's what you're watching right now, when you watch San Francisco play. Like it's evolving. And they're the team that Tampa was a year ago. And that's powerful in sport."

Maybe "powerful'' enough for Payton to get his wish of a Rams loss.