Alex Kemp will be the referee for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 13 matchup with the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, and Kemp’s crew has thrown 150 flags this season. That number is tied for the fifth-most among all referees this season. NFL Communications posted that Kemp would referee the Steelers-Bills matchup.
In games where Kemp has been the referee, there haven’t been fewer than six penalties called in a game. That total came in the most recent game he worked, a Monday Night Football matchup in Week 12 between the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers. Kemp has not worked a Steelers or a Bills game yet this season.
Of the 150 penalties called by Kemp and his crew, 36 of them have been for offensive holding, while 26 have been for false start. The 36 offensive holding penalties are the second-highest called by any crew in the league, behind Adrian Hill’s crew, which has called 39. The 26 false start penalties are the fifth-most called among referee crews this season.
There’s no question that offensive line play will be a focus with Kemp working the game. Both the Steelers and the Bills will start a backup offensive tackle, as the Bills will be down starting RT Spencer Brown, and the Steelers will be without starting LT Broderick Jones.
The last Steelers game that Kemp worked was the team’s playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Wild Card game last season. Kemp entered the league in 2014 as a side judge and was promoted to a referee ahead of the 2018 season.
This season, Kemp’s crew has called 78 penalties against the home team and 72 against the away team. His 78 penalties against the home team have totaled 626 yards, while the 72 penalties against the away team have totaled 689 yards.
A Michigan native, Kemp also worked the Steelers’ Week 3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers at Acrisure Stadium last season. This will be his first game at Acrisure Stadium since that matchup. In that game, Kemp called seven penalties totaling 69 yards against the Chargers while calling three penalties totaling 15 yards against the Steelers.
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