It will be referee Clay Martin on the call for the playoff encounter between the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night in primetime.
The Bengals rarely see Martin, who last worked one of their games in early 2020. He’s in his eighth season and fifth as a referee.
According to Football Zebras, he’s overseen four playoff games, including three in the opening round and one divisional.
Martin has a smaller sample size than most officials given his newness to the scene. But as Sharp Football Analysis broke down, he’s above average in calling defensive pass interference and home teams are 29-29 straight-up during games he oversees.
According to Pro Football Reference, home teams have a 62.5 winning percentage this year as Martin’s crew calls 11.69 penalties per game on average.
There’s no distinct advantage for the Bengals by any means, though they’ll have to be especially careful with DPI and understand Martin’s crew isn’t impacted by home-field advantage at all.
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