The Seattle Seahawks win over the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 4 was - well, I can't write what I was about to - so let's say it was a shiny show, the shine coming from all the penalty flags thrown. Despite the 14 penalties on Seattle, any ongoing concern is overblown.
That doesn't mean there wasn't a problem Sunday. It was clear during the game that head coach Mike Macdonald was livid at a few of those penalties. Nick Emmanwori's headbutt to Chargers lineman Cole Strange after the play was particularly egregious. It turned a 53-yard field goal attempt into a practical gimme 38-yard kick. Three points for the Chargers, gift-wrapped via penalty.
Macdonald had every reason to be upset about the penalty by Emmanwori. 14 total penalties are certainly cause for concern, too. But the important question here is this: why did the Chargers suddenly lack discipline, too? Let's investigate this a bit. And yes, we're gonna get mathy.
It wasn't the Seattle Seahawks or Los Angeles Chargers; it was the refs
I'm not blaming every call on the referees. Emmanwori's headbutt was clearly a rule violation and had to be called. He also committed a facemask penalty; while not intentional, it's going to be called every time. DeMarcus Lawrence hit Justin Herbert late, and that was clearly the correct call as well. As Macdonald said after the game, he wants the team playing on the edge, and that can be the cost.
However, Brady Russell's flag for unnecessary roughness was a joke. Connor O'Toole was flagged for a late hit on the punt return that Los Angeles converted into that damnable field goal before the half. Yes, the same drive aided by Emmanwori's hit. To his credit, he's taken full responsibility for the play on the Wyman and Bob Show on Seattle Sports. He addresses the penalty at 3:10 in the interview.
The Chargers were victimized, too. LA tackle Justin Eboigbe was called for roughing the passer when he rolled into Sam Darnold. And Jamree Caldwell was flagged very late for unnecessary roughness that wiped out a fumble recovery for Los Angeles. Not that I'm complaining about that one too much.
Now, let's talk about the refs, shall we? The officiating crew for this game was led by Scott Novak. I don't know him or anyone on his crew, but holy canary colors, they love pulling those pennants from their pockets. 30 penalties in one game is a bit crazy, and tied for the most in 23 years. And that game went into overtime.
Okay, 12s, it's time to get mathy. Is this crew really flag-crazy? In a word, oh heck yeah. Novak's crew called 58 penalties in the first three games this season. That's 19.3 per game, while the league average without his group was just 14.4. After Week 4, the league average was 14.6; Novak's crew now averages 21.25 per game. That is a massive difference of 46 percent.
For perspective, let's say you make sprockets at a factory. Mr. Spacely has different inspection crews rotate in to check everyone's work. And one crew out of 16 consistently finds 46 percent more defective sprockets than all the other teams. Now, is it more likely that everyone just happens to screw up whenever that crew checks their work, or that the crew sees problems that aren't there?
To add to the problem, Novak's officiating crew tossed six flags for unnecessary roughness, accounting for 15 yards and automatic first downs each time. Four went against the Seahawks and eventually resulted in 10 points for the Chargers. The two called on Los Angeles eventually gave Seattle 7 points. The league average is only 1.32 flags per game for unnecessary roughness.
So the issue isn't really that it changed the game, although it certainly affected it. The issue is that the Seahawks only averaged 7.3 penalties and the Chargers 7.0 coming into this game. Novak and his merry band of flag tossers might want to try flag football instead. Because frankly, that "officating" was pathetic.
To be sure, if the Seahawks had lost this game, it wouldn't have all been on the referees. After all, the Chargers got blown up 16 times by the primrose pennants themselves. Seattle has plenty to work on before they face the Niners this weekend. Lousy officiating shouldn't be one of their concerns.
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