Kingsbury calls for rule change after Moore’s flag-deflected muffed punt

Arizona Cardinals punt returner Rondale Moore was involved in one of the wildest plays of the weekend when an official’s flag collided with a punt on its descent into Moore’s arms in Sunday’s 31-19 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, causing him to muff the punt.

The play occurred just over a minute and a half into the 0-0 game when Arizona was called for an illegal block above the waist but recovered the loose ball on its own 17-yard line.

Although the Cardinals reclaimed the football, there are no rules in place for an official’s flag hitting the ball mid-air during a punt.

“I have never seen that before,” Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said Monday. “He (Moore) didn’t say anything at the time. He’s hard on himself, and I don’t know if he even knew what had happened. It looked kinda like the Twilight Zone, he had it and all of a sudden he didn’t have it.

“I didn’t know that occurred, but you would think maybe we can adjust that rule because it seems quite unfair that we would lose the ball if the ref happens to hit it. I think the ref should probably be ejected at that point.”

The Cardinals head coach said that he doesn’t know if the league will address this unprecedented event.

Rondale Moore muffed that 1st punt because the Ref nailed the football with the Penalty Flag on the way down. pic.twitter.com/u5D2bXYR2o

— Matt Abbott (@MattAbb0tt) September 26, 2021

“Considering this is probably the first time it has ever happened in the history of the league, I don’t know if they’ll really put it up at the owner’s meeting rules proposals, but I would be all for it,” said Kingsbury.

The 3-0 Cardinals travel to Los Angeles to face the 3-0 Rams at 1 p.m. Sunday on FOX and 98.7 FM Arizona Sports Station.