LA Rams: How objective are NFL officiating crews anyhow?

We’ve known a few questionable calls in the LA Rams’ quest to hoist the Lombardi trophy this year. But we’ve relied upon the consensus that the calls ultimately even out. As we all watched helplessly as San Francisco 49ers inside linebacker Fred Warner cheap shot LA Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, knocking him to the ground from behind well away from the play, no flag was tossed.

With all of the technology at our disposal, it’s crazy that plays like that still find their way in the NFL. But they do. And we, as fans, must somehow be content with the fact that the LA Rams won the game, despite the 49ers playing dirty ball at times.

Officiating is a big part of the big game

Of course, you don’t want those types of issues to occur during the biggest game of the NFL season. That is why the NFL officiating crew is hand-picked from their peers, based on the accuracy and objectivity of calling it right down the middle over the course of the 2021 NFL season. So who will have the distinction?

The full officiating crew will be: Ron Tolbert, R; Bryan Neale, U; Derick Bowers, DJ (worked in SB XLIII); Carl Johnson, LJ (worked in SB XLII, LIV); Rick Patterson, FJ (worked in SB XXXVII, XXXIX); Keith Washington, SJ; Scott Helverson, BJ (worked in SB XLII, XLV); and Roddy Ames, RO.

Are referees biased in the NFL? Should they be allowed to be, particularly in a game of such magnitude as the Super Bowl? What do we know about this officiating crew?

Time2play study revelations

Well, we’ve reached out to some experts in the field, the experts from Time2play.com, and a recent article –  Have referees been targeting certain teams more than others? [Study]. They dissected and analyzed game data since 2010. So what juicy tidbits did we learn?

Point I – The LA Rams are the fourth-most penalized team since 2010 (6.85 penalties per game, 58.1 yards per game), while the Cincinnati Bengals are the ninth-least penalized team (6.12 penalties per game, 52.4 yards per game)

So far in the NFL playoffs this year, the LA Rams have been penalized 12 times for 103 yards. Their playoff opponents have combined for 16 penalties for 125 yards.
The Cincinnati Bengals have been penalized 17 times for 132 yards. Their playoff opponents have combined for 11 penalties for 72 yards.

Point II – The Cincinnati Bengals have experienced among the most favorable referee bias (10th overall – 0.57), while the LA Rams have experienced among the worst referee bias (25th overall – (-0.95))

Determining officiating bias is a very hard matter to quantify in a real-time setting. But we can say that the refs certainly seem to turn blind eyes on matters like offensive holding of LA Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald, or cheap shotting Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Point III – Super Bowl official Ron Tobert (12.76 penalties per game) has called the 13th-most penalties since 2010 — most called penalty being offensive holding

Regular season enforcement of penalties typically runs at a higher frequency early in the season as officials are more scrutinous in an attempt to correct bad player habits. As the season wears on, that frequency seems to level out. In the playoffs, NFL officials seem to let the play continue unless the penalty is an obvious and impactful one.

It’s nice to see signs that Ron Tobert’s crew may have an eye on offensive holding. That can only benefit the LA Rams, particularly if they are able to realize that proclivity to flag offensive holding against the Bengals’ offensive linemen.

NFL officials have a thankless job. Nobody congratulates them for getting the right call, but they make lifelong memories for getting the call wrong. And each team likely has a punch list of those wrong calls that they feel may have cost them a victory. The best way to avoid those types of bad calls impacting the game is never to let the game get close enough to allow one play to have that much meaning.

In the end, we must rely upon the decision of the officiating crew – right or wrong. But hopefully, they’ll get most right. And of course, an LA Rams victory would be ideal as well.