Special teams woes have haunted the Cardinals all season, and Sunday's loss to the Dolphins was no exception. Chandler Catanzaro missed a field goal and an extra point and had another extra point blocked, which the Dolphins promptly returned for a two-point conversion.
On Tuesday, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians leveled cheating accusations at the Dolphins' special teams unit. Arians said the Dolphins used an illegal simulated snap count on the Cardinals' first missed extra point, which caused an early snap.
"We had a situation where somebody yelled out a snap count and we snapped an extra point early and missed the first extra point," Arians told Sirius XM NFL Radio.
Below, you can barely see the holder, Drew Butler, point toward the line of scrimmage after the missed kick, as Catanzaro appears to look confused.
On Wednesday, Dolphins special teams coach Darren Rizzi crafted the perfect response. First, he denied the accusation.
Darren Rizzi is "offended" by Bruce Arians' allegation. "It wasn't close to anything that was illegal."
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) December 14, 2016
He also hit Arians with a sick burn.
Dolphins ST coach Darren Rizzi on ARZ cheating allegation: "Other than making it rain when they had the ball, we didn't do anything wrong."
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) December 14, 2016
That quote is only relevant because of what Arians said after the game, when he claimed the totally biased and rigged weather got worse whenever his team had the ball.
"We practiced with a wet ball on Wednesday and didn't have any problems," Arians said, according to the Associated Press. "But when it continually pours when you have the ball, which was kind of odd, it's tough."
I have no idea if the Dolphins actually did simulate the snap or if the weather gods decided to punish the Cardinals, but I do know this: The Cardinals have been a disaster this season and have failed to meet expectations. For that, they have no one to blame but themselves.
