The NFL has assigned Clay Martin’s crew to Sunday night’s Lions-Panthers matchup in Carolina, and the numbers say Detroit is getting one of the league’s lighter whistles so far this season.
Martin will be on the headset for the 8:15 kickoff and brings a solid amount of experience with him. He has been an NFL official since 2016 and has worked as a head referee since 2018. This will be his 10th Lions game as the lead official, and Detroit has split those contests right down the middle at 5-5.
The most recent Lions game with Martin in charge came last season at Ford Field, when Minnesota walked in and left with a 27-24 win.
Martin’s first three assignments this year have already covered a pretty strong stretch of games: the Monday Night Football meeting between the Broncos and Chiefs in Week 1, Eagles-Titans in Week 2, and Steelers-Bengals in Week 3. Through those three games, his crew has thrown the fewest flags of any crew that has worked three games this season, according to NFL Penalties. Only Bill Vinovich, Carl Wrolstad and Alex Kemp’s crews have thrown fewer overall, and each of those crews has only worked two games.
The flag count has been fairly balanced between the two sides. Martin’s crew has called 19 penalties on home teams and 17 on visiting teams so far. Last week in Pittsburgh, the crew threw 11 total flags - five on the Steelers and six on the Bengals - with three offsetting penalties mixed in.
One area to keep an eye on is the line of scrimmage. Martin’s crew is tied for third in offensive holding calls this season. Detroit has been flagged five times for offensive holding, which leaves the Lions tied for 12th in that category.
For a Lions defense that has occasionally dealt with problems in coverage and at the line, the good news is that Martin’s crew has not thrown a defensive pass interference flag through three games, and it has only one defensive holding call on the books.
Carolina has seen Martin plenty as well. The Panthers have had him as the head referee for 10 games in his career and are 4-6 in those matchups. They won both of his assignments last season, beating the Dolphins in October and the Falcons in November.
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Lions Have An Early Opportunity Panthers May Not Be Able To Fix
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For Detroit, the injury report looks far cleaner, with DJ Wonnum and D.J. Reed listed as limited and no indication from the coach that either is in danger of missing the game. That gives the Lions a chance to attack a weakened secondary in a prime-time spot, and it sets up an early-season test of how much Carolina can patch things up before Sunday night. [Read more 🡒]