Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Analyzing officials part of Eagles’ preparations
PHILADELPHIA >> Somewhere between finalizing the game plan and choosing the action words for the rah-rah speech, pro football coaches prepare their players for the crews who officiate the games.
Not just who referees their game but what the players better be ready to deal with in this, the age of the ever evolving rulebook.
And so it is for the Eagles and the Carolina Panthers, who get together Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. Make no mistake, the Eagles and their opponent are in no position to leave any detail to chance.
“I think it’s important to know who our crew is, the types of fouls and penalties they’ve called in games,” Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said. “They do a scouting report on us just like we do them. Yeah, it’s good to kind of give the guys a little insight to who the crew is.”
Referee Clete Blakeman and his
crew officiate this Eagles game, and that’s good news and bad news. The Eagles are 8-1 in games Blakeman has refereed, all in the regular season, but most have been on the road. The Blakeman crew generally is known for defensive holding and pass interference calls, which benefit the offenses. That’s also a good thing for defenders, knowing what to expect.
“It’s more of a coach thing,” linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill said. “I’m usually not too worried about the refs. You can just tell certain guys are bigger on defensive pass interference or some guys are bigger on offensive pass interference. It just really depends.”
Hill and other teammates interviewed didn’t even know the name of the referee for their game. Eagles wide receiver Jordan Matthews supplied another perspective, that coming from his season with the Buffalo Bills. The head coach there is Sean McDermott. He was defensive coordinator of the Eagles and later the Panthers, before moving
on to the Bills.
“When I was in Buffalo I knew who the ref was every single time,” Matthews said. “McDermott would go up there and say like, ‘OK, this is the ref that we have. These are the penalties he’s called the most this year. This is what he calls the least.’ Here, Doug doesn’t put too much focus on them. And whatever philosophy you use, there’s no right or wrong. Doug is always like, ‘What are we doing?’ and then maybe he might add something about a guy, if it’s glaring like ‘Hey, this guy loves to call this.’”
Blakeman’s reputation as the king of defensive penalties should be enough to get the attention of Eagles cornerbacks Jalen Mills and Ronald Darby, who both can get physical. Hill and the linebackers have to be aware while in coverage, as well. The defensive linemen must understand they might not get that extra tenth of a second or so from coverage to get after the quarterback.
“I think there’s two types of refs,” Matthews said. “There’s guys who
are let-them-play refs, and there’s guys who are by the book. You’ll know going into the game. Like, this guy is going to let us play. And so, receivers, don’t be crying about defensive holding. They’re probably not going to call it. Ticky-tack fouls here, personal fouls there, a guy talking to you after the play, don’t worry about those things.
“But then there’s the by-thebook guys and you’ve got to tell everybody, ‘Hey, everybody’s got to tighten up.’ Like for receivers, the personal fouls, at the top of the route, receivers should not be pushing off or extending your arm because they’ll call it. And then presnap,
making sure you’re lined up and set because they’re looking to call something.”
How much the added preparation impacts a game is another matter. Pederson, who also played, couldn’t think of a situation where the heads-up about officials actually decided the outcome.
“If anything, it brings a little awareness to things,” Pederson said. “Other than that, I just think it’s just more their knowledge, just having it. Basically, that’s about it.”
The flip side of the coin is that if the scouting report on the officials didn’t have any value, teams wouldn’t do it.