It’s surely not a stretch to believe that the NFL officiating crew led by referee Clay Martin won’t be on Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon’s Christmas card list this year.
During Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks, the Cardinals were flagged four times for offensive holding with three by left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. One of those was declined, which came on quarterback Kyler Murray’s second interception of the second quarter.
His next one came late in the second quarter on first-and-10 from the Arizona 42-yard line. Running back James Conner gained four yards on a pass, but the penalty resulted in first-and-20 and led to a punt.
The final hold was in the third quarter with 11:24 remaining when Gannon decided to go for a first down on fourth-and-1 from the Cardinals 29, trailing 24-10. Conner bolted up the middle for nine yards, but a punt followed the penalty. Seattle kicker Jason Myers hit a 36-yard field goal on the next possession to give the Seahawks a 27-10 lead.
All of Johnson’s holds came while blocking linebacker Derick Hall. And two appeared to be plays when he pushed Hall down.
The other hold in the game was called on center Hjalte Froholdt. His first-quarter penalty wiped out a 16-yard completion to wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. to the Cardinals’ 47-yard line. On the next play that was second-and-19 came Murray’s first interception.
Most troubling is that the Cardinals have been flagged 11 times for offensive holding (three were declined) in their current three-game losing streak. That run came after having only 13 holds in the first 10 games of the season.
Also eyebrow-raising is that Johnson has been called for holding seven times this season, but five have come with the Martin crew on the field. They officiated the Week 8 game in Miami.
When asked Monday if he’s identified what’s behind the recent increase, Gannon said, “Yeah, we can’t foul. It’s hurting us in the football game, fouling. When I watch the tape, it’s really technique driven most of them that I’ve seen. Whether that be our feet, our hands, our eyes or our pad level, we have to do a better job there.
“That’s something we have to get cleaned up fast because again we’re moving backwards and you’re not going to play good offense moving backwards.”
As for whether the holds are the result of players getting beat, Gannon answered, “Not necessarily get beat because I know the one on Paris, he moved him out of the way on the one run. He wasn’t beat; that was a pad-level issue on that one, I thought. They were calling it tight because we had some holds on us on defense.
“We have to understand the rules and play with better technique, but they’re all a little bit different. They can all kind of materialize differently (and) I think penalties go into education, technique (and) decision-making, but those are kind of technique-driven.”
After the loss to the Vikings when the Cardinals were penalized 10 times for 96 yards, Gannon referred to the group led by referee Bill Vinovich as being “a low-flag crew.”
So, referencing Gannon’s comment about the Martin crew calling the game “tight,” he was asked if that was what he had seen from them before.
Gannon replied, “This was a high-flag crew, and we had them in Miami and they were leading the NFL in holding penalties. So our guys were educated that they were going to call them, and they called them both sides, so we gotta do a better job of not fouling.”
The Seahawks were called for two offensive holding penalties Sunday. In the Miami game, Johnson was flagged twice and the Dolphins once for offensive holding.
Martin threw the flag on the first Johnson hold and the one on Froholdt. On the second, it appeared the flag was thrown by umpire James Carter, who is in his second season as an NFL official, while the replay on the final one did not show who called the penalty.
Gannon did acknowledge that holding penalties can be bang-bang plays and when asked if it’s frustrating that crews call things differently, Gannon paid homage to the officials and said, “No, they do a good job I think, the refs. They’ve got a hard job. It’s hard to officiate an NFL football game; there’s a lot going on. They’re all different.
“All you’re trying to do is educate your guys and get consistency, but I don’t lose my mind at the refs. Some calls go for you, some calls go against you. That’s life in the NFL. Get over it.”
Of course, while coaches strive for consistency from players, which is difficult to achieve because both teams have the same goal, issues with consistency plague the officials. That also affects all teams and can have an impact on job security.
And yes, players can be educated about what to expect, but in the intensity of a game, they can’t be thinking about that. If they do, the result could be even worse.
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