Brad Allen will serve as the head referee for Thursday night’s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns. That’s good news for the home team. And in this case, the Steelers aren’t the home team.
According to Pro Football Reference, the home team has won 70 percent of the games Allen and his crew have worked this season, seven out of ten. That’s well above the league average of 53.0 percent. Taking that a step further, the penalties also correlate. The away team has been penalized more often in seven of ten games this season, including the last six that Allen’s refereed. Over that span, the home team is 4-2.
To give even more context, here’s the home winning percentage of the 17 head referees this season.
1. Shawn Hochuli: 77.8-percent
1. Carl Cheffers: 77.8-percent
3. Brad Allen: 70-percent
3. Alex Kemp: 70-percent
3. John Hussey: 70-percent
6. Alan Eck: 60.0-percent
7. Bill Vinovich: 56.2-percent
8. Tra Blake: 54.9-percent
9. Ron Torbert: 54.3-percent
10. Shawn Smith: 50-percent
11. Scott Novak: 49.6-percent
12. Adrian Hill: 48.6-percent
13. Land Clark: 48.3-percent
14. Craig Wrolstad: 48.2-percent
15. Clay Martin: 45.9-percent
16. Clete Blakeman: 40-percent
16. Brad Rogers: 40-percent
In context, Allen’s figure isn’t as unique as it initially appears. But he’s clearly far above the league-wide average. Of course, some of that is statistical noise, and there’s nothing to suggest that Allen is calling games more favorably for the home team. But the 2-8 Browns will take any advantage they can get, even if it’s just correlation.
Allen’s crew has thrown among the least flags this year, averaging 11 total per game. That’s the third least of the 17 crews. Only Hussey and Cheffers average fewer. False starts are by far the most common under Allen, 27 of them. A Steelers team on the road in a tough environment will have to be mindful. Allen also calls plenty of offensive holdings and a high rate of defensive pass interferences, more than one per game. Of the 12 he’s issued, 10 have gone on the away team compared to just a pair on the home squad. CB Joey Porter Jr. will have to play clean to avoid the penalty-fests he’s produced twice this year.
For the season, the Browns have the seventh-most penalties with 74. The Steelers have been faulted just 64 times.
Allen last officiated a Steelers game in the 2023 regular-season finale, which Pittsburgh won against the Baltimore Ravens backups. Penalties were minimal: four for the Steelers and three for the Ravens.
Allen began refereeing at the high school level before graduating to the ACC. His ascension to head ref was swift, and he earned that honor in his first year in the league in 2014. It’s the first time since 1962 that an official has become a head referee as a rookie.
He is best known for his controversial reporting/illegal touching penalty, which wiped out the Detroit Lions’ successful go-ahead two-point conversion against the Dallas Cowboys last season.
Pittsburgh and Cleveland kickoff on Thursday at 8:15 PM/EST.
