Fourth-year NFL referee Scott Novak and his crew are set to officiate the Kansas City Chiefs’ Week 18 game against the Las Vegas Raiders according to Football Zebras.
Novak officiated the team’s Week 1 game against the Arizona Cardinals, so the team will finish the season with the same officiating crew they began with. Novak’s crew called eight penalties for 74 yards in that game, with five penalties called on the Cardinals (home team) and three on the Chiefs (away team).
Through 15 games this season, the 182 flags thrown by Novak’s crew rank seventh in the league out of 17 officiating crews. His crew has called 10 more penalties on the home team (96) compared to the away team (86). Their 24 dismissed penalties tie for the fourth-fewest in the NFL.
False start (40) and offensive holding (30) are the penalties called with the most frequency by this crew. Defensive holding (17), defensive pass interference (14) and delay of game (11) are also among the penalties in the double-digits for Novak.
The Raiders have seven delay-of-game penalties this season, which is tied for the second-most in the NFL. That’ll be something to watch with this crew and a new quarterback under center in Jarrett Stidham.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs lead the league in defensive pass interference penalties with 13. That’s to be expected with a group of rookies in the secondary, but against a vertical passing game that features Davante Adams it could be especially troubling with this crew.
