Alan Eck will serve as the head referee for Sunday’s battle of the Keystone State between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles. Which means cooler heads will have to prevail in this one.
According to NFLpenalties.com, Eck and his crew lead are tied for the second-most unnecessary roughness calls this season with 11. Only Clete Blakeman and his 14 are more frequent.
It’s worth noting that Eck’s crew hasn’t called one since the middle of November, but his overall rate still remains among the league’s highest. Pittsburgh was flagged for one in Sunday’s win over the Cleveland Browns for retaliating at the end of a play in the third quarter.
It cost the Steelers 15 yards and created even better field position for the Browns after they returned the second-half kickoff into Pittsburgh territory. Fortunately, the Steelers’ defense held firm, and Browns’ K Dustin Hopkins missed a 43-yard field goal, leaving Cleveland empty-handed in a 27-14 loss.
Porter has been flagged 15 total times this season.
The Browns were later hit with their own unnecessary roughness call when LT Germain Ifedi got too physical post-snap with FS Minkah Fitzpatrick, drawing a flag.
Eck and crew have thrown 37 flags for offensive holding, called 24 false starts, and called 12 for defensive pass interference. They also have six roughing-the-passer calls, which is on the higher end league-wide compared to some crews that have only flagged it once all season.
Sunday will be the second Steelers’ game Eck has worked this season. He officiated Pittsburgh’s 32-13 win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 6. That day, the Steelers were flagged seven times for 50 yards, while the Raiders were penalized four times for 42 yards. Neither side had an unnecessary roughness penalty.
This is the first time Eck will work multiple Steelers’ games in the same regular season since 2018. Overall, his crew has fewer total penalties and penalty yardage than the league average.
A Williamsport native working a game featuring two Pennsylvania teams, he received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the Williamsport School District last season. A Bloomsburg alum where he served as the football team’s starting quarterback, he began serving as an NFL official in 2016 before being promoted to head referee last season. Away from football, Eck was a tax manager for a large construction company before stepping away in 2023, which coincided with his NFL promotion.
The Steelers and Eagles kick off Sunday at 4:25 PM/EST.
