Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians was unhappy with the officiating in Sunday's game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. The third-year head coach was upset over a call in the first quarter of the game, when referees penalized the 49ers for too many men on the field.
Bruce Arians calls out ‘FUBAR’ officiating after Cardinals’ win over 49ers
Arians said the referees “can’t count to three” following Arizona’s win over the 49ers on Sunday.
On the play, Carson Palmer completed a first-down pass to Larry Fitzgerald and the Cardinals went to the hurry-up offense on the next play. The play wound up being a 2-yard run by Stepfan Taylor, and the 49ers were penalized for having 12 men on the field.
It should have been a live-ball foul, which would have given the Cardinals a first-and-5 from the 10-yard line, but instead was a second-and-3 from the 8-yard line, stacking on top of Taylor’s run and not resetting the downs.
“I got so many explanations, I got tired of them,” Arians said, via Josh Weinfuss of ESPN, “because they were just running out of them.”
Arians' comments follow up those of 49ers left guard Alex Boone, who said after the game that the "refs sucked." Twenty penalties were enforced in Sunday's game, 13 of them on the 49ers and the other seven on Arizona. At one point, the 49ers were flagged four times in seven plays.
“The officials were struggling -- mightily,” Arians said. “They can’t count to three.”
At some point, Arians had heard enough from the officials and just wanted the game to move on. The following play after the penalty was a run for no gain on second down and an incomplete pass on third down. A new set of downs would only have cost the Cardinals 2 yards and they would have had another shot at the end zone.
“That’s not what we accepted,” Arians said. “That was the whole problem. It was a FUBAR on their part. They can try to explain it. They’re wrong.”
The Cardinals settled for a 26-yard field goal on the drive. They won the game, 19-13 and improved to 9-2 on the season.
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SB Nation presents: The referees’ parade of penalties against San Francisco
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