Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians is upset with officials after the Los Angeles Rams blocked two kicks last week with tactics that are illegal and were missed by referees.
Appearing on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Arians made it clear that he is upset that the Rams twice barreled through long snapper Justin Drescher to block kicks. NFL rules declare a long snapper a “defenseless player,” which should prohibit the type of contact the Rams utilized in blocking an extra point try and a field goal attempt last Sunday.
“While (Drescher’s) head was down there was contact on him,” Arians said.
“I’m on the (NFL Competition) Committee so I know it’s a foul. He’s a defenseless player.”
While defensive tackles Tyrunn Walker and Michael Brockers did not line up over Drescher – which is also prohibited in an attempt to protect long snappers – both players crashed through Drescher to be able to block their respective kicks.
Both Walker and Brockers came through the line over Drescher as Walker blocked an extra point attempt late in the second quarter to keep the Rams’ lead at 16-13. Brockers block came with 11 minutes remaining and the Cardinals trailing 26-16. A successful field goal would have made it a one-score game with plenty of time remaining for Arizona to potentially tie the game.
“Referees on the field tell you everything’s legal,” Arians said. “We have video now on the sideline. That’s the biggest nemesis for officials now (laughs). You feel like it’s not legal and you can’t get an answer and then on Tuesday or Wednesday you get confirmation (from the NFL) that, yes, it was illegal.
“Ron Torbert is a great referee. I had no problems with asking him anything. But it’s the after-the-fact things. You send the tapes in and it’s, ‘Yeah, that should have been called, that should have been called, that should have been called,’ but it’s not and you get very frustrated with it. To me, it’s just the inconsistency.”
Arians renewed his desire to see full-time officials mandated in the hopes of improving consistency. The NFL began hiring full-time officials for the first time last offseason.