The Cardinals and Seahawks played in a low-scoring battle of field goals Sunday night, so when Arizona's Chandler Catanzaro had a kick blocked in the second quarter, it had an impact on the outcome of the game.
Cardinals coach Bruce Arians felt there was a penalty on the play, and he plans to speak to the league about it. Though he doesn't expect much progress in the conversation.
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"I’ll talk to the league and I’m sure we’ll get some kind explanation that’s all bull— like normal," Arians said after the game.
The controversy lies in whether Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner committed an illegal act of leaping during the block. He did leap over a player, but the rule states in order for it to be illegal, the player must either 1) use a teammate to launch himself or 2) land on top of another player.
It's extremely difficult to leap over a player without an assist from somebody or landing on somebody, which is why a penalty is usually called. But Wagner managed to avoid both penalties, which is why a flag wasn't thrown.
NFL senior vice president of officiating Dean Blandino confirmed the legality.
In #SEAvsAZ you have to land on the player for it to be a foul. The block was legal.
— Dean Blandino (@DeanBlandino) October 24, 2016
In the end, the blocked kick wasn't Catanzaro's only disaster of the night. The veteran kicker missed a kick in overtime that would have sealed the victory, and Arians wasn't happy about that one, either.
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"You’re a professional; this ain’t high school," Arians said his advice to his kicker would be. "Make it.”
The game ended in a 6-6 tie.
