Cardinals livid over Julius Thomas' 'dirty' block on Calais Campbell

Calais Campbell could miss up to a month. (USATSI)

Is this the dirtiest play you've ever seen? Because according to Cardinals coach Bruce Arians, it's the dirtiest he's seen in his 37 years as a coach.

Arians, of course, is slightly biased since it was his player, defensive end Calais Campbell, who injured his MCL and who will be out for three to four weeks after he was blocked low by Broncos tight end Julius Thomas.

'It was a flat chop block that put him out of the game,' Arians said. 'I've never seen anything like it. I know (Broncos coach) John Fox, and he's a great coach and a great guy. Somebody has got to answer to that. A fine isn't going to do it when he's going to miss three to four weeks on a blatant chop block.'

And yeah, it looks dirty.

But as PFT points out, it doesn't appear that Campbell actually was chop blocked (at least in the traditional sense). That would have been the case if Campbell had been actively engaged with Broncos tackle Ryan Clady, but Thomas hit him low before Campbell could get to Clady.

It actually appears to be more of a cut block rather than a chop block. But that doesn't mean it's legal.

As Mike Pereira explained on Fox, via theMMQB.com: 'It's called a 'lure block.' Chop blocks are usually the high-low combination blocks, except for this one exception. If an offensive player assumes a pass-blocking posture across from a defensive player, the defensive player is going to assume he's pass-blocking him. Then it's illegal for another blocker to hit him low. It's illegal and probably will result in a big fine, I would think.'

But USA Today's Lindsay H. Jones caught up with Thomas after the game. Wrote Jones:

Julius Thomas was informed of Arians' comments as he left Denver's locker room, and the tight end told USA TODAY Sports he didn't intend to commit a chop block. Thomas said he had a miscommunication with Clady about who was supposed to block Campbell.

'I guarantee that being dirty is not a part of my game, and to intentionally hurt somebody is not something I would ever do,' Thomas said.

Thomas said he sought out Arizona cornerback Antonio Cromartie after the game to deliver an apology to Campbell.

Regardless, the Cardinals were highly upset after the game.

'It was bull ... I mean, it was a bad,' receiver Larry Fitzgerald said, via the team website. 'It was terrible man. We all saw it. We lose our defensive captain, and the guys go out to catch two more touchdowns in the game. I feel like he should have been thrown out of the game. That could have been a career-ending injury.'

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