There must be something in the name Brad, or maybe it’s just a funny coincidence. Both Brad Rogers and Brad Allen sit at the bottom of the league in flags thrown and penalties accepted, and Pittsburgh Steelers fans will see one of them on Sunday Night Football against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Brad Rogers and his crew will be officiating the game according to the game capsule provided by NFL communications.
Rogers has refereed seven games this year with 88 total accepted penalties and 14 more that were dismissed, per NFLPenalties.com. His crew throws about 14.6 flags per game, which is significantly lower than Alex Moore’s league-leading figure of 20.6.
The Steelers have not had Rogers this season, but they had him twice last year. He officiated Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons and Week 10 against the Washington Commanders. Neither of those games featured a barrage of penalties. Across those two games, he averaged seven flags thrown against the Steelers and five against their opponents. Pittsburgh happened to win both games.
In potentially good news for Joey Porter Jr., Rogers’ crew has only thrown six defensive holding and five pass interference flags all season. Porter is averaging one of those per game through five games played this season.
The Chargers are down both of their stud tackles, and the replacements might cut corners to find an edge. Good news for the Steelers, Rogers’ crew has called 20 total offensive holding calls, or roughly three per game. He has also called 17 false starts, so tackles seeking to gain an advantage on T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig won’t get away with much.
Something to look out for is the seven unnecessary roughness penalties his crew has called. The Steelers will have to make sure their hits are clean and before the whistle, or it’ll cost them.
All that being said, Rogers’ crew hasn’t been flag-happy this season, and historically they’ve let the game breathe. If that trend holds, Sunday night should be decided by the players, not the guys in black and white stripes.
Recommended for you