Zebra Report: Analyzing Week 18's Officiating Crew for Buccaneers-Panthers
Welcome to AllBucs' Zebra Report, which is a new, weekly post dedicated to analyzing the officiating crew that will be determining calls for the upcoming Bucs matchup. We will take a look at the week's specific crew and break down how often they make certain calls and where that ranks among their officiating brethren. Then, we'll compare that to how often the Bucs make the aforementioned mistakes and where they rank among the other NFL teams.
All data and statistics come from nflpenalties.com.
This week, the Buccaneers get to put up with Tony Corrente's crew when they host the Panthers in Raymond James Stadium for the season finale.
Corrente made all kinds of headlines earlier in the year when he flagged Bears linebacker for a very questionable taunting penalty and then appeared to bump into Marsh as the linebacker was heading toward the sideline. The call was a big reason why the Steelers were able to come back and win the game. And obviously, the situation made a whole lot of people mad.
He also collapsed on his own during the Week 17 Lions-Seahawks matchup and went to the locker room before returning, so let's hope he's OK health-wise for this game.
So, there's that. But what trends have Corrente and Co. established for themselves in 2021?
Corrente's crew has appeared in 15 games in 2021 and have thrown a grand total of 166 flags, which is good for 11.07 penalties called per game. Both amounts are the fourth-lowest out of the 17 total crews.
The chart below breaks down the amount of calls per specific penalty. Higher rankings mean more of that type of penalty/penalty yardage while lower rankings mean less:
| Type Of Penalty Called | Total Penalties Called | Rank (out of 17) | Total Penalty Yards | Rank (out of 17) | Penalties Called Per Game | Rank (out of 17) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Offensive Holding | 37 | 9th | 355 | 8th | 2.47 | t-8th |
False Start | 33 | t-8th | 162 | t-7th | 2.20 | t-8th |
Defensive Pass Interference | 14 | 14th | 245 | 13th | 0.93 | t-12th |
Defensive Offside | 7 | t-11th | 35 | t-11th | 0.47 | t-11th |
Defensive Holding | 11 | t-5th | 47 | 7th | 0.73 | t-5th |
Unnecessary Roughness | 2 | 17th | 28 | 17th | 0.13 | 17th |
Roughing The Passer | 8 | t-9th | 106 | 10th | 0.53 | t-9th |
Illegal Use Of Hands | 3 | t-13th | 20 | 13th | 0.20 | t-13th |
Neutral Zone Infraction | 4 | t-13th | 29 | t-8th | 0.27 | t-13th |
As you can see, Corrente's crew rank mostly mid-pack or below-average when it comes to throwing these specific flags. The highest amount is defensive holding, where the crew ranks 5th out of 17.
And this chart shows where the Bucs rank when it comes to the same criteria:
| Type Of Penalty Committed | Total Penalties Committed | Rank (out of 32) | Yards Lost | Rank (out of 32) | Total Penalties Committed Per Game | Rank (out of 32) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Offensive Holding | 15 | t-26th | 150 | 25th | 0.94 | t-26th |
False Start | 16 | t-17th | 79 | t-19th | 1.00 | t-17th |
Defensive Pass Interference | 14 | 2nd | 255 | 2nd | 0.88 | 2nd |
Defensive Offside | 9 | t-1st | 46 | 1st | 0.56 | t-1st |
Defensive Holding | 6 | t-6th | 25 | t-9th | 0.38 | t-6th |
Unnecessary Roughness | 3 | t-20th | 44 | t-24th | 0.19 | t-20th |
Roughing The Passer | 5 | t-10th | 38 | t-21st | 0.31 | t-10th |
Illegal Use Of Hands | 1 | t-21st | 9 | t-22nd | 0.06 | t-21st |
Neutral Zone Infraction | 7 | t-1st | 35 | t-1st | 0.44 | t-1st |
The two key takeaway from the charts regard defensive holding and defensive pass interference. The Bucs are one of the league's most vulnerable teams when it comes to committing those types of penalties. Corrente and Co. call the fifth-most defensive holding calls and that's also their highest ranking in any of the categories. However, they call the fourth-fewest defensive pass interference calls.
So, we may see some free first downs award to the Panthers in regard to a few defensive holding calls on Sunday, but there may not be many chunk gains given up due to defensive pass interference.
But like with most penalties, when they occur in the game is what matters most. And at the end of the day, I think we can all agree that we want to see as little yellow on the field as possible (unless it's part of a uniform color).
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