Veteran referee Shawn Smith has been assigned to Week 10's game between the New Orleans Saints and the Carolina Panthers, per Football Zebras. The Saints are 4-2 in games Smith has refereed, while the Panthers are 1-5. This season, Smith's crew is tied for the fewest flags thrown per game (14.6), but the 888 penalty yards they have assessed rank ninth out of 17 crews.
Why the discrepancy? Smith's crew leads the league with defensive holding calls (11, twice the NFL average) and penalty yardage (52, almost double the average). They're more judicious on defensive pass interference fouls, too, (138 yards on just eight DPI penalties) but the defensive secondary won't have much leeway with Smith and his crew on the field.
Penalties and disciplined
play could make a huge difference on Sunday. The Saints average just 6.1 five penalties per game, fifth-fewest, and no team has lost fewer yards per game to penalties (41.3). The Panthers only trail last week's opponent, the Cleveland Browns, in fouls per game (8.8) while leading the league in penalty yards per game (79.4). New Orleans appears to have settled down after a rash of early-season errors. Maybe they can take advantage of Carolina's mistakes this weekend.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Referee Shawn Smith assigned to Week 10 Saints-Panthers game
