Steelers On Good Side Of Interesting Trend For Week 16 Officiating Crew Led By Bill Vinovich

The Pittsburgh Steelers have managed to start the 2024 season with a record of 10-4. This is a much better mark than many expected the team to have with just three games remaining in the campaign. Unfortunately for the Steel City, two of the three games will come against juggernauts in the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs. The franchise, however, is in a good position because if it defeats the Ravens in Week 16, the AFC North crown will be returned to the North Shore. It won't be an easy task for Mike Tomlin's bunch to go on the road in hostile territory and come away with a victory.

Pittsburgh had to battle against some questionable officiating in Week 15 with Alan Eck's crew having several questionable moments throughout the contest. In Week 16 against the Ravens, the two teams dueling it out will have Bill Vinovich and his crew on the call. If his name sounds rather familiar, it should, as he was the lead referee for Super Bowl LVIII.

There are always small trends when it comes to officiating crews, and Vinovich and his bunch are no different. While they tend to throw a plethora of flags, home teams have been called just slightly over the away team. More important however, throughout the 2024 season, home teams have only walked off the victorious four times in 13 officiated games by Vinovich and co.

This is a staggering low win percentage for franchises hosting the games refereed by Vinovich. The league average is seeing the home team win roughly 51% of the time, but when Vinovich is in charge, organizations having the contest at their stadium are coming out on top only about 31% of the time. Additionally, only one of the four home teams to end up winning came from the AFC. That becomes a little too coincidental to ignore for the Steelers.

One of other things that may come into play on Saturday is the amount of yellow the two teams may see. That isn't a reference to Terrible Towels, rather, penalty flags given Vinovich's crew's tendency to call infractions often. The crew is throwing nearly 13 flags per game and has a total of 182 called in 2024. One of the more interesting stats is that only 17 of those have been declined. When the flags are tossed, they are costing whichever team is committing the penalty.

This will be an incredibly emotional AFC North matchup that has a ton on the line. The crew only has one unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the season, however, which could be an advantage for a Steelers team that has had trouble keeping cooler heads after plays occur. The main player that should be worried in Pittsburgh is Joey Porter Jr., with 21 defensive pass interference flags being thrown by Vinovich's group.

Overall, the trend of away teams finding success when Vinovich and his crew are in charge of a game has to be comforting for Steelers fans. It doesn't mean a win is guaranteed, but the statistics are too drastic to ignore when this massive of a contest is getting ready to kick off. Whatever the reason may be, teams playing on the road have had the advantage with Vinovich on the call, something Pittsburgh will look to take advantage of on Saturday.

Steelers Need All The Help They Can Get In Hostile Environment

Everyone wants to see a fair game called, but fans in Pittsburgh aren't going to complain if the Ravens are flagged more often than the Steelers. This is more than just any regular season game every time the two franchises face off, but the stakes are even higher in Week 16. Tomlin and his team will hope to be the 10th away team to win during Vinovich's 14 officiated games after Week 16.

Do you think that the Steelers will have the officiating advantage on Saturday against Baltimore? Let us know in the comments below!

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