Scott Novak will be the referee for 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, 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, but 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 called by any officiating crew last season, and the 14 calls totaled just 189 yards of penalty yardage.