...get very uncomfortable throwing their flag so much that they back off and start adjusting to the play, letting stuff go. It happens in basketball too. Refs are self-conscious about seeming like they’re having too big of an influence on the game and don’t want to be blowing their whistles on every play so they adjust. Teams like Utah have figured that out and use it to their advantage. On paper if the refs throw 7-8 flags on each side they walk away feeling like they called an even game even though one side actually committed 30 penalties but only got the 7-8 called.

I think it was something Roger French employed as well when he was the OL coach at BYU. For years I remembered reading opposing coaches get irate in the media with how much holding we got away with. Somewhere along the way we got away from that.