Scott Novak will serve as the head referee for the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants’ Monday Night Football game at Acrisure Stadium. Based on Novak’s trend of penalty calls this season, there is some potential for it to play into the Steelers’ hands.
If you have watched the Steelers long enough, you are probably well aware of the Joe Flacco heave-and-pray offense with the Baltimore Ravens. He would launch the ball downfield—often back shoulder or just short of his target—and it was extremely effective at drawing pass interference penalties. It was only one game, but Russell Wilson’s deep ball was dropping in a little short and looks primed to draw a bunch of DPI penalties this season. With extra air on the ball, guys like George Pickens are working their way back to the passes. This has pass interference written all over it, and they got a big one at the end of the first half in Week 7.
Novak’s crew has penalized defensive backs more than any other position this season. He has thrown 16 flags on defensive backs for 165 yards. Eight of those have been defensive pass interference. He calls about 1.33 of those penalties per game, the fifth most among the ref crews.
Wilson didn’t look shy throwing to covered receivers. I am not a betting man, but with the way Wilson is throwing the deep ball, I would bet we see a deep pass interference that aids the Steelers’ offense in this game.
Novak is in his sixth season as a head referee. His crew includes several highly experienced veterans, totaling 91 years of experience.
They haven’t had Novak’s crew this year and only had him once in 2023. On that day, the Steelers were called for only three penalties, while the Green Bay Packers were called for five. Novak’s crew called the fewest penalties per game last season, with 9.75. This year, he is in the middle of the pack with 12.50 per game.
His three most common penalties this season are false start (16), offensive holding (8), and defensive pass interference (8). The Steelers have been undisciplined with their offensive holding compared to the Giants, so that could be cause for some concern.
