Here’s the Week 13 referee assignment for the New Orleans Saints’ game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night, per Football Zebras: Clay Martin, a fifth-year referee with eight years of experience working NFL games. Martin was promoted from umpire to referee in 2018, and he’s since officiated two games with the Saints — with New Orleans winning each time (beating the Arizona Cardinals in 2019 and outlasting the Los Angeles Chargers in 2020), both games at home. This will be the first time they work with Martin’s crew on the road.
So how do the trends from Martin and his staff match up with the Saints and Buccaners this season? Let’s explore:
Clay Martin trends
Martin’s crew averages the 5th-most penalty flags thrown per game (15.27), though they rank 7nth among the 17 different squads in accepted fouls (12.36). So we should expect plenty of yellow markers to litter the field on Monday night.
As for their most-common penalties:
- False starts (2.55 per game, 4th)
- Offensive holding (2.18 per game, 10th)
- Defensive pass interference (0.91 per game, 5th)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers trends
The Buccaneers average 5.82 penalties per game (16th) for 47.55 penalty yards per game (17th) going against them. Additionally, Tampa Bay has had 6.27 beneficiary penalties called against their opponents this season (9th) for 53.36 penalty yards (8th). The fouls most commonly called against them:
- False starts (1.64 per game, 3rd)
- Offensive holding (1.09 per game, Tied-15th)
- Defensive offside (0.45 per game, 6th)
However, the Buccaneers rank 29th in first downs yielded by penalty (0.64 per game) while gaining the 5th-most first downs by penalties on their opponents (1.64).
New Orleans Saints trends
The Saints are the 6th-most penalized team in the league per game (6.67), averaging the 6th-most penalty yards lost each week (55.08). They also rank 13th in beneficial calls going their way, with opponents averaging 5.92 penalties and 11th in penalty yards (51.25) on opponents. These are the infractions most often called against New Orleans:
- False starts (1.83 per game, 1st)
- Defensive holding (1.00 per game, 1st)
- Offensive holding (0.83 per game, 27th)
Additionally, the Saints have been fouled for more automatic first down penalties (2.25 per game) than any team in the league, while ranking last in first downs gained via penalty of their own (0.67 per game).
