Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills will see their fourth different officiating crew in as many weeks when they host the New Orleans Saints on Sunday afternoon. This week, it’s none other than Land Clark, one of the most notable lead officials in the NFL. Clark’s officiating crew tends to be an interesting matchup regardless of the game, sometimes with memorable calls/no-calls serving as an overarching theme once the dust settles.
In looking at the past three weeks, what can we learn about penalties called by Land Clark and crew? Thus far, Clark’s crew is in the middle of the pack and calling 39 penalties to start the season (the leader is at 54). This crew most recently officiated the Sunday Night Football matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and New
York Giants where 15 total penalties were called.
Something for Bills Mafia to monitor this weekend is how often roughing the passer (RTP) is called, especially knowing how frequently quarterback Josh Allen draws those penalties. Interestingly, Clark’s crew calls RTP with the greatest frequency among their calls so far this season, with five on record through three games. Clark only called seven roughing the passer through all of the 2024 season, so he’s well ahead of pace.
Also in 2024, Clark called 191 penalties total, which was in the bottom half among officials. His most-called penalty was false starts followed by offensive holding and defensive pass interference. Left tackle
Dion Dawkins has been known to try and get a little head start off the line, so it will be interesting to see if
he gets flagged at all against the Saints.
