[jwplayer UXB2vX5C-ThvAeFxT]
There’s a chance the New Orleans Saints could end up playing the Los Angeles Chargers away from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, depending on what happens next with Hurricane Delta. Whether they kick off at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis or remain in New Orleans, Week 5’s “Monday Night Football” matchup will be refereed by Clay Martin, per Football Zebras.
While Martin has worked several Saints games as an umpire — 2015’s loss to the Carolina Panthers, and wins in 2016 and 2017over the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears, respectively — this will be just his second assignment to New Orleans as a referee. In 2019, he officiated the Saints’ blowout win over the Arizona Cardinals, in which the black and gold were fouled twice for 15 yards. Arizona drew five penalties for 35 yards, mostly for neutral zone infractions, a false start, and for having too many men on the field (all attributed to communication issues in the raucous Superdome).
Hopefully Martin and his crew will call a clean game on Monday night. They’re averaging 11.7 flags thrown per game (slightly above the league average) but only 86.7 penalty yards per game (15.6 below the NFL average). They’ve done a great job of staying out of the way of games.
The Saints were fouled just four times for 67 yards in Week 4’s win over the Detroit Lions, both season-lows, but they still lead the NFL in penalty yards (398) through four weeks. It’s overwhelmingly due to defensive pass interference calls, where the Saints have racked up 244 yards in fouls. The next-worst teams are the New England Patriots (93) and Indianapolis Colts (91). Here’s a chart illustrating that disparity between the Saints and the rest of the league (teams that have played just three games listed in blue):
something's off but i just can't put my finger on it pic.twitter.com/33tU8kRu56
— John Sigler (@john_siglerr) October 7, 2020
Martin’s crew has thrown just two flags for defensive pass interference all season, totaling 30 yards. So if that trend continues, the Saints should stand to benefit so long as they check themselves, and barring any shenanigans from the officials.