replacement refs giving more of a home field advantage...

[PhillyB]

i'd be interested in seeing how this compares to a ten-year progressing statistical analysis of the same figures. i'd be willing to bet that in general, teams playing on the road tend to commit more penalties than usual (crowd noise, different environment causing loss in focus) and even more so in week one (shaking off the rust, still getting in the swing of things) and also an increase in penalties over that period (with stricter contact rules in place.)

if i had to guess i'd say the refs are only marginally involved in the actual cause; they are merely products of the cause and necessarily facilitate the effects.