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The 2011 Official Playing Rules and Casebook of the National Football League devotes 1,127 words to the section on roughing the passer.

Twenty-two words near the end sum up the spirit:

"If in doubt about a roughness call or potentially dangerous tactic on the quarterback, the referee should always call roughing the passer."

That sentence pretty much absolves referees from blame for penalizing acts that seem to be borderline infractions.

We discussed one such penalty against the Arizona Cardinals' Calais Campbell earlier.

Campbell leads the NFC West in roughing-the-passer penalties since 2009 with three. Teammate Clark Haggans, the San Francisco 49ers' Ahmad Brooks, the Seattle Seahawks' Raheem Brock and ex-Seahawk Patrick Kerney have two apiece since then.

Instead of focusing on players, I've put together a chart showing how many roughing calls each of the 17 current referees has called since 2009. Note that Clete Blakeman was not a referee until 2010. Officiating crews change members from time to time, but the referees are the ones responsible for most roughing calls, so these numbers hold up better.

Some referees call more penalties than others overall. Some have surely encountered more instances of roughing than others. But if you're a defensive end eager to mete out some old-school punishment on the opposing quarterback, it wouldn't hurt to know which referee was working the game that day.
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An end-of-season look at where NFL officiating crews rank in a few categories where discretion and controversy tend to apply, listed by referee (with Walt Coleman scheduled to work Seattle's wild-card game Sunday):

The second chart breaks down defensive pass-interference numbers by crew for the last three seasons.

The next chart breaks down offensive pass interference by crew for the 2010 season only.
Note that Coleman's crew has called only one such penalty this season, second-fewest in the league behind Seattle favorite Bill Leavy.

The next chart breaks down the offensive pass-interference calls by crew for the last three seasons.

The final chart shows three-year totals for roughing the passer, by crew.

Seattle fans might remember the controversial roughing penalty against Seahawks defensive end Raheem Brock during the team's defeat at New Orleans in Week 11.

The pivotal play did not draw a fine, tacit admission that referee Mike Carey's crew erred on the call.

Coleman's crews have only four roughing calls over the last three seasons, fewest in the league among referees working continuously since 2008.

Note: All info from ESPN Stats & Information and includes declined penalties.

With apologies to St. Louis Rams fans trying to forget about the costly pass-interference call against safety Oshiomogho Atogwe in Week 10, I'll pass along stats showing interference calls by officiating crew.

Referee Ed Hochuli's crew worked the Rams' game in Week 10. His crews have called the most penalties of any kind over the last three seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information. His crews rank tied for the most defensive pass interference calls.

The Rams might have picked the wrong officiating crew to tempt with a close call on interference. They might have had a better chance if, say, John Parry's crew were working their game. Parry's crew was off in Week 10, but it has called 15 defensive pass interference penalties since the 2009 opener, compared to 14 for Hochuli's crew this season alone.

Officials are calling more penalties per game overall and more for defensive pass interference, as the final row of the chart indicates.

The NFL is increasingly concerned with protecting quarterbacks.

Sometimes that concern makes it tough for a defensive player to carry out his job aggressively. Sometimes a borderline roughing-the-passer penalty can influence a game's outcome.

When the St. Louis Rams' Oshiomogho Atogwe and Fred Robbins drew roughing-the-passer penalties during a 16-14 defeat at Oakland in Week 2, the plays wound up factoring into the outcome significantly. The foul against Atogwe sustained a Raiders drive to a field goal. The foul against Robbins, which seemed like a borderline call from the Rams' perspective, allowed Oakland to run out the clock.

What if Robbins in particular had known that the referee that day, Tony Corrente, called far more roughing penalties than some of his peers? Might Robbins have backed off instead of giving Raiders quarterback Bruce Gradkowski a little shove? I'll try to ask Robbins Sunday following the Rams' game against Seattle.

It's entirely possible the referees with more roughing calls witnessed more cases of roughing. It's also reasonable to think referees apply slightly different standards when determining whether to call roughing the passer. Crews associated with Corrente and Ed Hochuli call more non-roughing penalties than other referees, so it's no surprise to see them near the top of the list for roughing, too. Al Riveron ranks tied for first in roughing calls and 10th in non-roughing penalties since 2008.

The chart, put together with information provided by Hank Gargiulo of ESPN Stats & Information, shows how many roughing-the-passer penalties each referee's crew has called (including declined penalties) over the last three seasons. Note that Clete Blakeman is a first-year referee. The others listed have worked as referees since at least 2008.

Referee Bill Leavy's surprise admission stands as the most notable officiating-related development in the NFC West this offseason.

A smaller one slipped through unnoticed -- almost, anyway.

Don Carey, the rookie referee San Francisco 49ers coach Mike Singletary confronted at halftime of the 2009 regular-season opener, has been reassigned to work as a back judge under Ed Hochuli.

"You don’t want to hear what I said (to Carey)," Singletary told reporters in the aftermath of the game against Arizona at University of Phoenix Stadium. "It was very positive. He may not say that."

Singletary was joking about the "very positive" part.

"Really, what it came down to, when you’re making calls out there, have somebody over there near me that can relay some kind of information and I’ll be fine," Singletary explained at the time. "And that’s what we talked about. That happened in the second half. It worked out a lot better."

Carey suffered two replay reversals in the 49ers' game at Arizona and three more the next week. He finished the season with 11, tied for second-most among NFL referees behind Al Riveron (13). In Week 3, Carey's sixth reversal of the season returned possession to the Chicago Bears following Matt Forte's fumble at the Seattle 1-yard line (David Hawthorne had recovered for the Seahawks). I remember thinking replays did not appear conclusive.

Clete Blakeman, a field judge under Leavy last season, has replaced Carey as referee for 2010. Carey's more famous brother, Mike, remains one of 17 referees (he has been one since 1995).

The NFL has shuffled multiple crews for 2010. Referee Peter Morelli's crew has a league-high seven members new since 2009 (each worked on a different crew last season).

Six officials from 2009 are not returning in any capacity for 2010: John Schleyer, who served as head linesman under referee Jerome Boger; Carl Johnson, line judge under Don Carey; Charles Stewart, line judge under Carl Cheffers; Bill Schmitz, back judge under Morelli; and Clayton Judge, video operator under Al Riveron.

A seventh, back judge Bob Lawing, died from cancer in May. Officials will honor him by wearing a memorial patch on their hats this season. Lawing worked under referee Walt Coleman.

Facebook friend Patrick sent a message to me suggesting the NFL erred in sending referee Bill Leavy to Seattle Seahawks training camp. He said some fans booed and called Leavy names when they spotted him on the practice field.

Also via Facebook, Rams fan Brian suggested Leavy's transgressions at Seattle's expense in Super Bowl 40 paled next to the errors another referee, Bernie Kukar, made at the St. Louis Rams' expense in their Super Bowl 36 game against the New England Patriots (Brian might not recall this, but Leavy's crew made a couple tough calls against the Rams, too).

I do recall Rams fans complaining about the Patriots roughing up Marshall Faulk and preventing him from releasing as a receiver out of the backfield, but New England played well enough to win that game, I thought. Similarly, I think the Seahawks did not play well enough to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl Leavy officiated.

With all these warm feelings for referees and officiating coursing through fans, I'm guessing the NFL will be a little more careful in assigning referees to future training camps.

Three pairings I'd like to see during 2011 camps:

1. Leavy and the Seahawks. Perhaps the team could invite fans -- or even former coach Mike Holmgren -- for a question-and-answer session. The league could sell highlight videos ranking Leavy's calls from best to worst.

2. Walt Coleman and the Oakland Raiders. Fans might remember Coleman for his controversial (but correct) tuck-rule interpretation in the Raiders' AFC divisional playoff defeat to the New England Patriots following the 2001 season. Coleman hasn't worked a Raiders game since that memorable ruling. Camping in Napa can't be all that rough.

3. Ed Hochuli and the San Diego Chargers. The referee famous for his muscled physique also became known for the whistle he blew prematurely at the Chargers' expense during a 2008 game against the Broncos. Ironically, Hochuli previously had not worked a Broncos game since flagging Denver nine times for 113 yards during a game against San Diego.

Previously: NFL officiating assignments.

Tari writes via Facebook: How would you go about researching which NFL officiating crews throw the most laundry? I am curious for the sake of pure argument, but my buddy wants to know for his fantasy league team.

Mike Sando: I have personally tracked assessed penalties and replay challenges since Mike Holmgren complained about officiating in Super Bowl XL. I also went back through records to include data since 2001. ESPN Stats & Information also tracks this information. My replay information is more detailed because it counts booth challenges, but its referee information is superior because it counts declined penalties, not just accepted ones. Its information also breaks down penalty types by crew.

Based on my records, Ron Winter's crews have assessed more penalties per game since 2003 than those headed by any of the 16 other current referees. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Winter's crew is calling more total penalties per game -- accepted plus declined -- than any other crew in 2009.

Scott Green is working the 49ers-Packers game in Week 11. Ed Hochuli is working the Seahawks-Vikings game. I'll check on the Cardinals-Rams referee once I get to the Edward Jones Dome a little later.

I'm working on an item about the Rams' situation at receiver -- Keenan Burton is undergoing surgery -- but first wanted to pass along an officiating note.

Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt indicated dissatisfaction with several calls during the Seattle-Arizona game Sunday.

"I'm disappointed that there seemed to be a number of penalties called that were tough to see," Whisenhunt said. "I thought we played a pretty good technical game. Some of those penalties were unfortunate. I wasn't happy with them. There will be a few that we turn in (to the league office) because, as would be the normal case, you don't always agree with them."

Seahawks coach Jim Mora also had issues with the game referee Walt Coleman's crew called. According to Danny O'Neil of the Seattle Times, Mora said he turned in 17 plays for league review, the most he has ever submitted as an NFL head coach.

If that is what the head coaches are saying publicly, imagine what they must be saying in private.

Coleman's crew called 26 penalties, an extremely high number.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- NFL officiating director Mike Pereira says officials made the right call on a key ruling during the Cardinals' 31-20 victory over the Seahawks.

The Cardinals had gained 3 yards on second-and-2 from the 7. Officials then flagged Arizona running back Beanie Wells for a 15-yard penalty after the play.

In short, the Cardinals faced first-and-10 instead of first-and-goal from the Seattle 19 after officials flagged Wells.

"They made the first down and then got called for the unnecessary roughness," Pereira wrote in an e-mail. "It will always be first-and-10 unless the foul is against an official."

I did not know that. Neither did anyone I spoke with in the press box, including team and league officials.

Referee Walt Coleman got it right.

Referee Since 2002 Roughing the Passer Penalties Ed Hochuli 68 Terry McAulay 57 Ron Winter 54 Tony Corrente 53 Jeff Triplette 47 Mike Carey 43 Walt Coleman 28 Bill Leavy 18

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

CHICAGO -- The Cardinals' defense naturally wants to punish Bears quarterback Jay Cutler in their Week 9 matchup at Soldier Field.

A little advice: Make sure those quarterback hits fall within the rules.

Ed Hochuli, the referee assigned to work this game, leads all 17 referees in penalties for roughing the passer this season. He also leads all referees in roughing calls since 2002. The chart breaks down the numbers for all officials who have worked as referees continuously since then.

Hochuli leads the NFL with six roughing calls this season.

The Cardinals' Chike Okeafor led all NFL players in roughing penalties with eight from 2001 through the 2008 season. Safety Adrian Wilson and defensive lineman Darnell Dockett combined for five. Arizona has committed only one such penalty this season, by linebacker Karlos Dansby in Week 7.

Referee 2009 Replay Challenges 2009 Replay Reversals Don Carey 13 6 Al Riveron 11 6 Scott Green 9 5 Walt Coleman 10 4 John Parry 10 4 Mike Carey 9 3 Jerome Boger 7 3 Carl Cheffers 7 3 Gene Steratore 7 3 Terry McAulay 5 3 Ron Winter 16 2 Ed Hochuli 8 2 Jeff Triplette 6 2 Walt Anderson 5 2 Tony Corrente 5 1 Peter Morelli 5 1 Bill Leavy 2 1

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

NFL officiating director Mike Pereira made no mention during his "Official Review" show of the dubious tripping penalty called against the Vikings in Week 7.

I'll try to pick up the slack.

Referee Ron Winter and his crew are almost never wrong, apparently.

Head coaches and the replay official assigned to Winter have challenged his crew 16 times this season, a league high. Winter has reversed only two of those calls. The other referees have reversed 41.1 percent of calls put under review.

The 17 officiating crews have worked between five and seven games this season. Winter's crew has worked six. His crew has faced 2.7 challenges per game. The other crews have faced 1.4 challenges per game.

Winter's crew is calling 16.8 penalties per game, including declined penalties. Only the crews of Jerome Boger (17.7), Ed Hochuli (17.2) and Walt Coleman (also 16.8) are calling as many. Winter's crew has previously ranked among the most prolific in calling penalties.

The tripping call against the Vikings' Jeff Dugan was one of only 13 tripping penalties called in the NFL this season. The Vikings thought it was a horrible call and I thought it was horrible as well.

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando


This file lets you instantly see where any NFL referee fits among his peers regarding penalties and replay challenges. Just passing along.

Five quick officiating notes through Week 6:

• 49ers coach Mike Singletary is 2-0 in challenges this season. The Cardinals' Ken Whisenhunt is 1-1. The Seahawks' Jim Mora is 0-3 and the Rams' Steve Spagnuolo is 0-2.
• Walt Coleman's crew suffered three reversals working the Bills-Jets game, matching the season high for any crew this season. Don Carey's crew suffered three working Panthers-Falcons in Week 2.
• Coaches remain smarter about their replay challenges when playing away from home. Road coaches were 5-4 in challenges for Week 6, compared to 2-6 for home coaches. Overall, road coaches have won 23 reversals this season. Home coaches have won only nine.
• Bill Leavy's crew has incurred only two challenges, a league low. Ron Winter's crew has incurred 14, a league high. Each crew has suffered only one reversal, however.
• Walt Anderson's crew is assessing 15.6 penalties per game, most in the league and 5.6 more per game than Al Riveron's crew.

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

Referee 2009 Replay Challenges 2009 Replay Reversals Don Carey 11 6 Al Riveron 10 5 Jerome Boger 7 3 Scott Green 6 3 Gene Steratore 6 3 Terry McAulay 5 3 John Parry 6 2 Carl Cheffers 5 2 Ron Winter 14 1 Mike Carey 6 1 Walt Coleman 5 1 Tony Corrente 4 1 Jeff Triplette 4 1 Ed Hochuli 3 1 Peter Morelli 3 1 Bill Leavy 1 0 Walt Anderson 0 0

joe_cool585 sized up the referee breakdowns from Week 5 and said, "The real question is, how many of each referee's challenged calls have been overturned?"

Easy enough.

Rookie referee Don Carey still holds the league lead for reversals, but the field is gaining on him. Carey suffered two reversals in Week 1, three in Week 2, one in Week 3 and none in Weeks 4 or 5. He is one of eight referees -- there are 17 -- to work each week this season.

Carey, second-year ref Al Riveron and veteran Ron Winter have faced a combined 35 coach- and booth-initiated challenges this season. Veteran Walt Anderson has faced none. Winter's stat line stands out for its unusually low reversal rate. Winter has reversed only one of the league-high 14 challenges he has faced while working only four games. Weird.

I've asked officiating director Mike Pereira about these sorts of disparities in past seasons. He has basically said he doesn't care about the numbers as long as officials are making the correct calls. I like replay stats because reversals document those errors referees acknowledge.

Pereira covered a few controversial plays from Week 5 in his weekly Official Review segment. I thought his explanation for the weird taunting call in the Patriots-Broncos game held up better than expected. It sure looked "fishy" (Pereria's words).

I've been tracking replay stats for years. ESPN Stats & Information also tracks penalty stats by crew. Terry McAulay's crew has flagged offensive linemen only six times this season. The crews of Jerome Boger, Anderson, Winter, Walt Coleman, Ed Hochuli and Scott Green have each called at least 23 penalties against offensive lines. That's an aspect of officiating I'll explore in the coming weeks.

The crews of Coleman and Hochuli have each called 10 penalties for offensive holding against offensive linemen. The crews of McAulay (3), Don Carey (3), Riveron (3) and Peter Morelli (2) have combined to call just 11.

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

Referee 2009 Coach-Initiated Challenges Per Game Don Carey 8 2.0 Ron Winter 8 2.0 Al Riveron 7 1.8 John Parry 5 1.7 Gene Steratore 4 1.0 Jeff Triplette 3 1.0 Jerome Boger 3 0.8 Mike Carey 3 0.8 Walt Coleman 3 0.8 Scott Green 3 0.8 Carl Cheffers 2 0.7 Terry McAulay 2 0.7 Ed Hochuli 2 0.5 Peter Morelli 1 0.3 Tony Corrente 1 0.3 Bill Leavy 1 0.3 Walt Anderson 0 0.0

The angry coach is a staple of sports with an entire line of Coors Light commercials to prove it.

Someone should market a Coaches Gone Wild video.

Coaches' cardiologists might disagree, but there's something utterly amusing about a grown man spewing steam toward an unsympathetic referee.

With those visuals in mind, I made an initial stab at putting together a referee satisfaction index for this season. The chart shows how many times head coaches have challenged each NFL referee through Week 4.

Challenges are subjective. Most are futile. Some seem to represent emotional, even petty overreactions by teed off coaches. It's interesting to me that coaches issue more wasted challenges during home games, when throwing the red flag can appease the locals, if only temporarily.

The Vikings' Brad Childress, for example, has a 9-8 challenge record on the road and a 5-14 challenge record at home, based on my records. His predecessor, Mike Tice, was even worse (5-7 road, 1-10 home). The Jaguars' Jack Del Rio (8-13 road, 8-20 home), the Titans' Jeff Fisher (7-6 road, 6-13 home) and the Bears' Lovie Smith (11-14 road, 5-17 home) are similarly futile home challenges. Former 49ers coach Mike Nolan (6-4 road, 6-13 home) was another futile home challenger.

Coaches have focused their challenges disproportionately.

Four of 17 NFL referees account for half of the 56 coach-initiated replay challenges through Week 4. Head coaches have challenged three refs -- Don Carey, Ron Winter and Al Riveron -- 23 times already. Carey is a first-year ref. Riveron is a second-year ref. Winter denied four challenges in Week 4, including two raised by the Ravens. Winter's satisfaction rating among the Ravens could use a little restoration.

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

Referee 2009 Replay Reversals Don Carey 6 Al Riveron 3 Jerome Boger 2 Terry McAulay 2 John Parry 2 Gene Steratore 2 Mike Carey 1 Carl Cheffers 1 Walt Coleman 1 Tony Corrente 1 Scott Green 1 Ed Hochuli 1 Peter Morelli 1 Jeff Triplette 1 Ron Winter 1 Walt Anderson 0 Bill Leavy 0 AVERAGES 1.5

Based on Jim Mora's general postgame comportment Sunday, the Seahawks' coach is probably fortunate no one asked what role officiating played in the game.

Referee Don Carey, who accounted for five of 19 replay reversals through Week 2, made his league-leading sixth reversal a memorable one when he returned possession to the Bears following Matt Forte's fumble at the Seattle 1-yard line. Linebacker David Hawthorne had recovered for the Seahawks, who held a 13-0 lead at the time.

"A decision will be reversed only when the referee has indisputable visual evidence available to him," the rule book states.

This one appeared inconclusive at best.

Mora's postgame rant against kicker Olindo Mare might have read differently had anyone pressed for his thoughts on Carey's reversal. I doubt he would have the ruling, uh, acceptable.

"If you’re a kicker in the National Football League you should make those kicks -- bottom line," Mora said of Mare. "End of story. Period. No excuses. No wind, doesn’t matter. You’ve gotta makes those kicks. Especially in a game like this, where you’re kicking and fighting and scratching your tail off and you miss those kicks, it’s not acceptable. Not acceptable. Absolutely not acceptable."

Carey suffered two reversals -- and Mike Singletary's ire -- while working the 49ers-Cardinals game in Week 1. He suffered three more reversals in Week 2. The NFL's 17 referees have suffered 26 replay reversals in 48 games this season. More than a third involved calls made by Carey, a rookie referee, and second-year ref Al Riveron.