14-year NFL referee Clete Blakeman and his crew are set to officiate the Kansas City Chiefs’ Week 9 game against the Tennessee Titans according to Football Zebras.
The last game that Blakeman officiated for Kansas City was Week 2 preseason game against the Washington Commanders. The last meaningful game he officiated was the Chiefs’ 36-35 Week 2 loss against the Baltimore Ravens in 2021, which also happened to be on “Sunday Night Football.”
You might remember Blakeman from some other close Chiefs losses like the loss to the Raiders in 2020 or the AFC title game against the Patriots. Then there was the Chiefs-Rams game in 2018 when the NFL replaced Blakeman’s normal crew with an “All-Star” officiating unit. That game was an unmitigated officiating disaster with 12 total penalties.
Since 2010, when he was promoted from field judge, Kansas City has just an 8-6 overall record in games officiated by Blakeman.
Fans should expect a lot of flags in this upcoming game. Through seven weeks of officiating, Blakeman’s crew has thrown the third-most flags with 115. Only Alex Kemp and Clay Martin have thrown more (129 each) and Martin’s crew has officiated one more game compared to Blakeman and Kemp. Right now, Blakeman’s crew is averaging the most flags per game among NFL officials. They also have just 13 dismissed penalties, tied for the fourth-fewest among officials.
The penalties this crew calls with the most frequency are false start (16) and offensive holding (16), which isn’t great news for Tennessee. The Titans are tied for the third-most offensive holding penalties in the NFL (10) and the second-most false start penalties (12). Defensive holding (9) and defensive pass interference (9) are also up there for this crew, which is bad news for Kansas City. The Chiefs are tied for the third-most defensive pass interference penalties in the NFL this season (6).
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