It looked like Clete Blakeman was about to do that. With just over two minutes remaining in a 31-26 game, the head referee of the NFC title game began to reach his flag to call what was an obvious offensive defense by Green Bay’s Rick Wagner over Tampa Bay’s Shaq Barrett.
But Wagner gave up enough and Blakeman stopped his movement to the flag when Aaron Rodgers moved and finally threw an incomplete pass for the third and 8 goal.
That moment was a perfect microcosm of both the 2020 NFL season and the perception of playoff football. Officials threw fewer flags this season than any other in the past decade – especially on penalties – and the idea of ”letting them play” came to life last Sunday at Lambeau Field. Well … until that pass interference call at the end, anyway.
So, after a season with fewer whistles than before, should we expect the same on February 7, when the Chiefs and Buccaneers meet at the Super Bowl LV? I analyzed the numbers this week and talked to CBS rules analyst and Super Bowl LII referee Gene Steratore to find out.
“I don’t see why we shouldn’t (expect the same),” said Steratore. “If the numbers are low and that was perhaps due to some training and discussion about the levels when they mark fouls. I would expect the same trend to end in the Super Bowl as well.”
The regular season of 2020 saw 11.24 penalties per game, which was the second lowest total since 2000. Only the 2008 season, with 11.23 penalties / game, was lower.
From 2000 to the 2019 season, there were 12.8 penalties / game. That means a drop of about 1.5 penalties / game in 2020 compared to the previous two decades. But what really stands out is the drop from the previous five years.
From 2015 to 2019, there were 13.5 penalties / game. This means that there were 2.25 fewer penalties / game activated in 2020 compared to the most recent five years.
“I always prepared my team the day before in our pre-games to make sure that any fouls we scored in the game the next day were big fouls. You always stood out to make big fouls,” said Steratore, who served for 15 years. in the NFL and was the referee for the Super Bowl LII before retiring. “That did not mean allowing teams to foul. It meant that the percentage of plays when you act that have a level of judgment – insure, some IP – has levels when it becomes a foul or when it is technically a foul, but not we feel it is a big enough fault. So that was the message and it has always been that.
“This is the dance that you constantly have each week and play to play. And what you hope to happen is that when you reach that kind of level that we’re going to call it, it’s either to maintain that consistency throughout the game and, with Luckily, over the weeks and the season to allow teams to get ready to understand that if we get to that level, is it still cool? Do players and coaches adapt to refereeing as long as it remains consistent. the constant challenge for officials as the third team on the field. “
The league’s edict to the referees was clear this season: charging less penalties. This speeds up the game and leads to more points. On average, the teams were called in for just 38 offensive penalties this year. That’s down from 49.5 last season. Which is? There were more points and touchdowns scored this year than any other in NFL history.
Combine this with the general idea that referees throw fewer flags in the playoffs. From 2000-2019, there were 12.8 penalties per regular season game, but 10.7 penalties per post-season game. Since 2000, only in 2008 and 2009 there were more post-season penalties / matches than regular season penalties / matches for that season.
Is it because employees swallowed their whistles in January? Or maybe better teams just commit less penalties, and teams that made it into the postseason are usually better than the others.
“No, I don’t think they (swallow their whistles),” said Steratore. “Two things happen. They really understand the magnitude of the fouls. Usually that decree that I always passed on to my team resonates with them in the single games now, where the message is (to) increase the fouls. I think something else happens. the teams that reached this point probably played very well within the rules for much of the season, so they may have a tendency to commit less foul as the playoffs progress and the competition is the same. they understand how a penalty can be punitive for the game, for your team.
“But within that, they also have to go outside at the same time because this is the championship. I think it’s a combination of both. But I would never say that the officers are swallowing whistles or holding flags because they want to ‘let them touch.’ This is a bad phrase to refer to. ‘Let them play’ means that someone is gaining an advantage. “
In 12 games this postseason, there were only 98 penalties. This equates to 8.17 penalties / postseason game, which since 2000 has lost only 8.09 penalties / 2011 postseason game as the lowest rate. The Chiefs have committed 10 penalties in two games, while Bucs have 12 penalties in three games.
The Chiefs were heavily penalized in the postseason as well, accumulating 17 flags in three games on their way to the Super Bowl title. In fact, Kansas City is the second most penalized team since 2018, behind only the Jaguars. The Buccaneers went from being the most penalized team in the 2019 season to the 20th in 2020 with Tom Brady as a defender.
And the referee for this? Carl Cheffers called two Chiefs games this year and zero Bucs games. This is his second Super Bowl, with his first victory in the Patriots’ victory over the Falcons at Super Bowl LI. That one was without official controversy and included his crew correctly making Julian Edelman’s unreal capture.
According to the Professional Football Reference, their teams have scored 12.4 penalties / game this season, giving one more flag per game than the league average. The teams he has led for the past 13 seasons have thrown more flags than the league average in all but four seasons.
Steratore says that with an entirely new team for the Super Bowl, these trends don’t matter at all. In addition, these averages have no influence on the game itself, Steratore says, because one or two sloppy games in a season is enough to take the average.
“Carl is a highly respected officer and a good leader,” continued Steratore. “What you are doing now is to bring this collective group together and you will speak with the coach-to-team mentality, where this is what we are about to face and spend together. We feel that we should all be trained in the same way by the collective group, but now we’re going to mix this with my time or what I hope will be done between the casualties. It’s when the flow of the game has the mark of a referee who went through preparation with the team in my opinion. really good teams. “
Part of this preparation of the managers is to study the teams and understand their trends. Steratore directed several New England games, for example, and he understands that if Brady got a big win around midfield to the red zone, he would try to get to the next snap quickly so that the defense couldn’t replace and lose his balance .
You don’t want to go too fast and give a team an unfair advantage, or too slow and harm it. Likewise, certain calls may be easier – for lack of a better term – for officials to make depending on the defender. Because of Brady’s style of play, if you see illegal contact on the field, your progression as an official would be to see if the quarterback is still in the pocket with the ball. And since Brady is likely to have stayed in his pocket, that’s a flag.
For Mahomes, his ability to shuffle can make that specific call more difficult. The same can happen with the tendency of Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy to summon plays with unique formations.
“You don’t want to start thinking about it at 3:30 pm on Saturday,” said Steratore. “It’s the game of your life. It’s history. If you make a mistake next Sunday, with the stripes, it will cost someone the Super Bowl, your grandchildren will live with it. It’s a fact. That’s how things happen.
“You understand the magnitude of it. And for that reason, you are humble with what is about to happen and you better be ready.”