NFL Referees 2007 Week Two Report

Not too much to report just yet for a few reasons -- the statistical sample size is still small after only two weeks and it is hard to tell tendencies of the teams themselves (how good are they and how many penalties would they ordinarily commit in an average week?).

So for now, just a few brief observations:

After two weeks (just as after one week), there is a positive correlation suggesting that home teams do better with referees that on average call more penalties. The correlation after two weeks is +0.267 when comparing the number of penalties per game and the rate that home teams win that referee's games.

There still is not much correlation between the full 2006 season and the first two weeks of the 2007 season as you go referee by referee. There is a negative correlation for the penalties per game and home team's winning percentage for the referees that worked in 2006 and 2007 so far.

Walt Anderson and Ron Winters refereed games in week two after taking week one off according to the NFL official reports. The only one from 2006 that has not appeared this year so far is Bill Vinovich. After week two, the referees with the most penalties per game are Bill Leavy, Terry McAulay, and Walt Anderson. The ones with the least penalties per game are Gerald Austin and Jeff Triplette (tied) followed by a tie between Bill Carollo and Larry Nemmers.