Scott Novak will referee the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 2 matchup with the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, per a release by NFL communications. Novak’s crew has a tendency to focus on the offensive line.
Offensive line play will be key regardless, and avoiding penalties could be the difference between winning and losing. Last season, Novak’s crew threw 41 flags for false starts and 40 for offensive holding, per nflpenalties.com. Their next most-called penalty was defensive pass interference, with just 14 throughout the 2024 season.
The 14 defensive pass interference penalties were the fourth-fewest any officiating crew called last season. Those 14 calls totaled just 189 yards of penalty yardage. Novak’s crew also called 13 delay of game penalties and 12 unnecessary roughness penalties.
Novak worked Pittsburgh’s Week 8 win on Monday Night Football over the New York Giants last season. In that game, Novak called five penalties totaling 50 yards against the Steelers while calling 11 penalties for 65 yards against the Giants. Last season, his crew called double-digit penalties 13 times. The least penalties they called in a game was five, coming in Week 8 in Cincinnati Bengals-Philadelphia Eagles matchup.
The 16 accepted penalties in the Steelers-Giants game were the third-most accepted penalties that Novak’s crew had in a game last season. A Week 5 matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and New York Jets resulted in 19 accepted penalties, while a Week 16 matchup between the Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers contained 17.
Novak has refereed in the league since 2019. He began his NFL officiating career as a side judge in 2014 before moving to a field judge in 2017. The league promoted him to a referee in 2019. His first game as a referee resulted in a Week 1 tie between the Arizona Cardinals and Detroit Lions.
Prior to Steelers-Giants last season, Novak also worked the Steelers’ win over the Green Bay Packers in 2023. That game featured just eight accepted penalties, with the Steelers receiving five flags for 32 yards.
