The NFL has assigned veteran referee Ron Torbert and his crew to Week 1’s New Orleans Saints home opener with the Tennessee Titans, per Football Zebras. The Saints are 6-3 in games Torbert has worked since being promoted to referee back in 2014, but their last game with Torbert on the field was a too-close win over the Los Angeles Rams, 27-20. Tennessee is 4-3 with Torbert in the game during the same stretch and won their last game with him on hand 19-10 against the division-rival Indianapolis Colts.
New Orleans was only fouled twice (for 15 yards) in that matchup whereas the Rams drew six penalty flags (for 55 yards), but the final score was a little too tight for having played one of the league’s worst teams.
Which penalties should the Saints watch out for? Per NFLPenalties.com, Torbert’s crew averaged 2.24 false start fouls and 2.18 offensive holding infractions per game, totaling 10.9 penalty flags each week (with 5.5 of them going against the home team and 5.4 on the visitors, on average). With that said, Torbert and his team averaged the fourth-fewest penalties per game among the 17 officiating crews last season though their 91.1 penalty yards per game ranked seventh-lowest.
It’s something to keep in mind when the Saints kick off against the Titans on Sunday. New Orleans was fouled 5.8 times per game (12th-most among the 32 teams) while benefiting from 5.4 opposing penalties each week (21st). No team benefited from more penalties per game on their opponents than the Titans (6.7) but Tennessee also ranked fifth-most in fouls going against them (6.5).
Titans head coach Mike Vrabel has a reputation for running a tight ship and his quarterback is skilled at tricking the defense into offsides penalties, but the Titans lost more yards than they gained to penalties last season. Hopefully everyone plays a clean game and Torbert’s presence in this game remains nothing more a footnote.
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