NFL Referee Statistics (after week 8)

Here are the updated NFL referee statistics after week 8 (including games through October 29, 2007):

The strong correlation between the number of penalties per game and the rate the home team wins is still a striking positive of 0.496. If you take out two strange entries (Barry Anderson and David Coleman in week one), the correlation is even higher at 0.644! Refs who call more penalties are more likely to have the home team win.

Possible relationship between the referee who calls the game and how many penalties there are and the rate the home team wins the game. One way to check on whether the referee has a relationship to how many penalties are called or the rate the home team wins is to compare those statistics in 2007 with the same statistics for those referees in 2006. Then to see if there is some correlation between the 2006 rates and the 2007 rates for those referees. After 8 weeks, a comparison of those referees with stats in 2006 and 2007 suggests there is a relation between the ref and penalties called or home team win-rate. The correlation for penalties called is a positive 0.339 while the correlation for the home team's win rate is a fairly large positive 0.393!

Referees by penalties accepted per game (followed by home win rate):
Ron Winter (16.3, 67%)
Walt Anderson (16.2, 83%)
Terry McAulay (13.7, 71%)
Mike Carey (12.9, 43%)
and at the bottom are
Jeff Triplette (9.5, 33%)
Scott Green (9.4, 43%)
Gerald Austin (9.0, 43%)
Pete Morelli (8.9, 29%)

Referees by home win-rate: if you believe the referee has some influence (perhaps an unintentional tendency) on whether the home team wins, then use this list. Here's the list, again with the penalties per game followed by the home team's win-rate.
Walt Anderson (16.2, 83%)
Tony Corrente (12.5, 83%)
Terry McAulay (13.7, 71%)
John Parry (12.6, 71%)
and at the bottom:
Mike Carey, Gene Steratore, Bill Leavy, Scott Green, Gerald Austin (tied at 43% home win-rate)
Jeff Triplette (9.5, 33%)
Pete Morelli (8.9, 29%)

So, if you like the home team, hope for Walt Anderson, Tony Corrente, Terry McAulay, or John Parry. If you like the visiting team, hope for Jeff Triplette or Pete Morelli.

Here is the information, alphabetically, with total penalties, total yards, and home win-rate in parentheses:
Barry Anderson (10, 50, 100%)
Walt Anderson (16.2, 117, 83%)
Gerald Austin (9, 79, 43%)
Jerome Boger (11.3, 88, 67%)
Mike Carey (12.9, 98 43%)
Bill Carollo (10.6, 84, 57%)
David Coleman (9, 84, 0%)
Walt Coleman (10.3, 72, 67%)
Tony Corrente (12.5, 101, 83%)
Scott Green (9.4, 70, 43%)
Ed Hochuli (11.9, 93, 57%)
Bill Leavy (12.1, 96, 43%)
Terry McAulay (13.7, 112, 71%)
Pete Morelli (8.9, 72, 29%)
Larry Nemmers (11, 98, 50%)
John Parry (12.6, 94, 71%)
Gene Steratore (12.7, 102, 43%)
Jeff Triplette (9.5, 72, 33%)
Ron Winter (16.3, 119, 67%)