A Look at the Officiating Crew Assigned to Giants-Falcons Week 16 Game

Tra Blake and his officiating crew have been assigned to call the New York Giants’ Week 16 game against the Atlanta Falcons.

Blake is in his third season as an NFL referee, and is the second “youngest” referee in terms of tenure, behind second-year referee Alan Eck. Blake was originally hired by the NFL in 2020 as a field judge. The following season, he became an umpire and then was promoted to referee starting in 2022 following the retirement of Tony Corrente.

Blake’s crew has called 167 penalties this season, seventh most in the NFL. This will be their second time working a Giants game, their last such assignment coming in Week 7 when the Giants hosted the Philadelphia Eagles. 

In that game, Blake’s crew threw 11 total flags for 70 yards, five of those penalties going against the Giants for just 35 yards. 

Of those five penalties, two were on the offense, one was against the defense and two were on special teams, with just one penalty being declined.

Thus far this season, Blake’s crew has flagged the home teams on 55.09% of the penalties thrown, which is slightly more than the league average of 49.02%.

Blake’s crew consists of two carry-overs from the previous season, down judge Patrick Turner and side judge Don Willard. The rest of his crew includes umpire Carl Paganelli (previously with John Hussey’s crew), line judge Tom Eaton (previously with Carl Cheffers), field Judge Mearl Robinson (previously with Adrian Hill), back judge Grantis Bell (previously with Craid Wrolstad), and replay official Tyler Cerimeli and replay assistant Tim Robinson, both previously with Shawn Hochuli’s crew.