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It's no secret by now that the officiating in the Eagles-Cardinals game on Sunday probably wasn't the best officiating performance that's ever been seen. There were bad calls/non-calls on both sides of the action. However, others saw it as a one sided affair, despite what the penalty numbers say: 6 penalties on the Cardinals for 55 yards, and 5 penalties on the Eagles for 48 yards.
One of those people questioning the officiating is none other than Cardinals head coach Bruce "Pro Style Offense" Arians. In his Monday press conference, Arians admitted that the Cardinals submitted a tape of 15 plays for the NFL to review. Quotes here provided by Tim McManus of Birds 24/7
"There were obviously problems in the ballgame," said head coach Bruce Arians. "There are protocol to follow. We followed the protocol. We sent the tapes into the league office. [Vice President of Officiating] Dean Blandino does a great job as far as being honest on the calls, and we’ll follow up more…on what will be done and can be done later, but that’s all I’ll say about the officiating in that ballgame. The proper channels have been followed, and there were obviously very many problems."
Arians noted that the Cards submitted about 15 plays for review.
"That’s pretty high," he said. "I think that’s considered a problem."
There isn't a problem with how Arians has handled this matter. He's followed the proper avenues to address this issue. He didn't complain about the refs in his post-game press conference. He did also say the Cardinals needed to own up to their mistakes. Still, the sentiment comes off as one of a sore loser.
The reality is there were bad calls on both sides. Cardinals fans will want to point to some crucial calls late in the game, such as a negated Nick Foles interception due to defensive holding and a Bradley Fletcher pass interference non-call, but maybe that game isn't even close had some calls not gone against the Eagles earlier. Specifically, the negated DeSean Jackson punt return TD comes to mind. There was also a pass interference call on Riley Cooper that was missed at one point. You can spend all day debating calls on both sides.
There are bad calls nearly every week. It's part of the game. To suggest the Eagles were gifted that win due to those calls is erroneous, however. Philadelphia isn't a bad team that lucked into a victory. They're a team that's playing well and has won several straight games in a row. They are a team that forced the Cardinals to turn the ball over three times. It's fair to criticize some of the officiating decisions, but it's not like they won a game they had no business winning.
Sorry, Bruce.
