Week 5 Officiating: Meet Carl Cheffers and Crew

Name: Carl Cheffers

Age: 65

Promoted To Referee: 2008

Graphic Courtesy of Football Zebras

Last Game: Week 4 2025 IND @ LAR

Last Lions Game: 10/27/24 – TEN 14 @ DET 52

• The Tennessee Titans committed 8 penalties for 60 yards. They were flagged a total of 12 times.

• The Detroit Lions committed 3 penalties for 29 yards. They were flagged a total of 3 times.

• Together there were 11 penalties for 89 yards. There were 15 total flags in this game.

Notable

Carl Cheffers and crew have the most penalties called per game in the NFL through four weeks and that isn’t a good thing for the Lions. In Cheffer’s Crews three games, they call many of the penalties that have plagued the lions all year (See chart above) and on top of that, they are No 1 in calling penalties on the Away team. The Bengals aren’t out of the woods, as they also have multiple infractions that are a favorite flag of this crew. This Crew focuses on the lines (Offensive Holding, False Starts, Defensive Offsides, Ineligible Downfield Pass and Illegal Formation) are 5 of their top 10, and the Defensive back field where Pass Interference (both ways) and Defensive Holding are on their radar. I am concerned about the latter two, as Higgins and Chase going against backup CBs and officials that are flag happy are never a good combination.