The Houston Texans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers face one another to kickoff triple-header coverage on Saturday on NFL Network. If the Texans win the Week 16 encounter with the Bucs, Houston will have the AFC South title for the sixth time in club history.
Next, we take a look at facts surrounding Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians and referee Scott Novak.
Facts and Figures for Buccaneers, No. 1-25
Facts and Figures for Buccaneers, No. 26-50
bruce arians facts
51. Arians is the seventh former playoff-winning coach the Buccaneers have hired.
52. With a win, Arians would join Jon Gruden and Dirk Koetter as the only Buccaneers coach to lead the team at a least eight wins in his first season with the team.
53. Arians is 12-3 against the AFC South with a 6-0 record at home.
54. A win would join Arians with Gruden as the only Buccaneers coach to get a win against the Texans in their first try.
55. Arians is 1-2 against the Texans with a 1-0 record at home.
56. Arians is 20-9 in December with a 9-4 record at home.
57. Arians is 27-30-1 against playoff-winning coaches with a 14-12-1 record at home.
58. Arians and Texans head coach Bill O’Brien are the only head coaches since 2014 to lead their teams in back-to-back playoff appearances with multiple quarterbacks.
59. Arians is 23/46 on challenges for his career with a 6/11 rate in 2019.
60. Arians has made six challenges related to pass interference this season with a 2/6 success rate.
61. The Buccaneers have the second-most penalties in the NFL with 115.
62. The Buccaneers have the third-highest scoring offense in the NFL at 29.7 points per game.
63. The Buccaneers have the eighth-highest red zone conversion rate in the league at 64.0%.
scott novak facts
64. This week’s referee is Scott Novak. Houston had him in Week 2’s 13-12 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Houston had fewer penalties: 7/47 to 9/70.
65. In the Texans’ last Saturday game in Week 15 of 2018 at the New York Jets, Novak was a field judge in the 29-22 win.
66. This is the first time the Buccaneers will have Novak.
67. Novak has the sixth-highest home team winning percentage:
John Hussey: .615
Carl Cheffers: .615
Brad Allen: .615
Clete Blakeman: .615
Alex Kemp: .615
Scott Novak: .607
Walt Anderson: .571
Tony Corrente: .538
Ron Torbert: .538
Jerome Boger: .500
Craig Wrolstad: .462
Brad Rogers: .462
Shawn Hochuli: .462
Shawn Smith: .429
Bill Vinovich: .385
Clay Martin: .385
Adrian Hill: .385
68. Novak has the highest percentage of home teams having fewer penalties:
Scott Novak: .857
Clete Blakeman: .692
Shawn Smith: .643
Tony Corrente: .615
Brad Rogers: .615
Clay Martin: .615
Brad Allen: .615
John Hussey: .615
Jerome Boger: .571
Adrian Hill: .538
Alex Kemp: .538
Craig Wrolstad: .538
Carl Cheffers: .462
Ron Torbert: .462
Bill Vinovich: .462
Shawn Hochuli: .462
Walt Anderson: .429
69. Novak is tied for the seventh-lowest rate of sacks per game:
Smith: 6.2
Vinovich: 6.2
Hill: 6.0
Anderson: 5.9
Martin: 5.5
Corrente: 5.2
Kemp: 5.2
Rogers: 5.0
Allen: 4.9
Cheffers: 4.8
Novak: 4.8
Boger: 4.6
Blakeman: 4.4
Torbert : 4.3
Wrolstad: 4.2
Hussey: 4.1
Hochuli: 3.3
70. Novak has the third-lowest rate of offensive holding per game:
Cheffers: 4.6
Torbert : 3.8
Corrente: 3.4
Anderson: 3.2
Rogers: 3.2
Hochuli: 3.2
Wrolstad: 3.1
Hill: 3.1
Boger: 2.9
Allen: 2.9
Kemp: 2.8
Blakeman: 2.8
Smith: 2.6
Martin: 2.4
Novak: 2.1
Hussey: 1.8
Vinovich: 1.8
71. The Texans are 0/1 on challenges with Novak. Opponents are similarly 0/1.
72. Novak has the third-highest challenge overturn rate:
Kemp: .600 (6/10)
Blakeman: .588 (10/17)
Novak: .500 (6/12)
Anderson: .438 (7/16)
Torbert : .429 (3/7)
Vinovich: .429 (6/14)
Cheffers: .400 (4/10)
Corrente: .375 (3/8)
Smith: .375 (3/8)
Boger: .364 (4/11)
Hussey: .364 (4/12)
Rogers: .333 (3/9)
Hill: .300 (3/10)
Allen: .267 (4/15)
Martin: .154 (2/13)
Hochuli: .143 (1/7)
Wrolstad: .083 (1/12)
73. Novak has yet to overturn a call related to pass interference:
Cheffers: .500 (1/2)
Anderson: .400 (2/5)
Vinovich: .400 (2/5)
Hill: .250 (1/4)
Kemp: .200 (1/5)
Allen: .111 (1/9)
Boger: .000 (0/2)
Novak: .000 (0/3)
Torbert : .000 (0/3)
Corrente: .000 (0/3)
Smith: .000 (0/3)
Blakeman; .000 (0/3)
Hussey: .000 (0/3)
Hochuli: .000 (0/4)
Rogers: .000 (0/4)
Wrolstad: .000 (0/5)
Martin: .000 (0/8)
74. Novak used to be an official in the Big 12.
75. Novak has worked three playoff games as an NFL official.
