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NFL's most flag-happy officials will call Eagles-Cowboys game

Get prepared for a lot of yellow Sunday night.

Get prepared for a lot of yellow Sunday night.

Amid a much-hyped primetime ratings decline that has been blamed in part on games interrupted by overzealous referees, the NFL is scheduled to trot out its most flag-happy crew to officiate Sunday’s highly-anticipated matchup between the Eagles and the Cowboys.

Jerome Boger and his crew average 20.3 penalty flags per game, and have called 18 or more penalties in their last 6 games this season, according to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. During the Week 6 Monday night snoozefest between the Jets and Cardinals, Boger’s crew called 23 penalties in primetime, 13 in the first half alone.

"The way this game has been officiated is not something that anyone wants to watch," ESPN "Monday Night Football" host Sean McDonough acknowledged during the game.
"Tough game to watch, with all the penalties," Jon Gruden offered later.

This could be bad news for an Eagles team that's averaging 10.2 penalties per game, 3rd worst in the league. They've received less than seven penalties just once all season, and were hit with 14 and 13 penalties in their losses to the Lions and Washington, respectfully.

"That's tough, it's tough to overcome," Eagles coach Doug Peterson said after their heavily-penalized loss in Detroit.

Even worse for Eagles fans is that fact that Boger's crew seems to favor the home team. According to Pro Football Reference, the home team won games that Boger's crew officiated 67 percent of the time in 2014 and 60 percent of the time last season.

So far this season, the home team has won three of the six games Boger's crew has officiated, including the Titans' Week 7 loss in Indianapolis against the Colts. The Titans received 12 penalties in that game for 131 yards, while the Colts received just six penalties.

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