This column -- a collaboration with NFL officiating guru Joe Gibbs -- is 44-30 (plus 11.1 units) since its debut last season. 

Gibbs (not the Hall of Fame coach, the NFL referee expert who tweets @NFLrefstats1) teams with SportsLine to deliver three weekly bets. Gibbs dives into the NFL referee assignments the moment they are released each week, unearthing the most relevant betting angles.

Before you make any Week 9 NFL picks or NFL parlays, you need to see what Gibbs and SportsLine senior analyst Larry Hartstein have to say about the officiating crews' tendencies.

A former lead writer for Covers and The Linemakers, Hartstein combines a vast network of Vegas sources with an analytical approach he honed working for Pro Football Focus. Hartstein tied for 52nd place (out of 1,598 entries) in the 2022 Westgate Las Vegas SuperContest, going 53-34-3 ATS. His weekly contest selections form the basis of his NFL best bets column, which is 88-62-3 (58.7%, +19.31 units) since its inception in 2022.

We can tell you Hartstein and Gibbs are betting the Rams -1.5 (FanDuel) over the host Seahawks, in part because ref Clay Martin drew the assignment.

Home teams in Martin's career are 39-57-2 ATS, including 2-5 ATS this season. Divisional home teams like Seattle are 10-21 ATS. The Rams are 4-0 all-time with Martin officiating, including 2-0 SU and ATS in NFC West games. 

Seattle ranks No. 3 in penalties per game, while the disciplined Rams rank 30th. Seattle ranks third in offensive holding penalties and the Seahawks' offense as a whole has committed a whopping 40 penalties, compared to 18 by the Rams' offense. A disproportionate 48% of Martin's penalties (league average is 40%) have been assessed in two categories: offensive holding and false starts. Compared to the Rams, the Seahawks have committed double the amount of those penalties.

Hartstein and Gibbs also are sharing key officiating angles in Saints-Panthers and Commanders-Giants! You need to see this key referee data before locking in your picks!

So what's the play for Commanders-Giants? And what other officiating edges can be found on the Week 9 slate? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Larry Hartstein's Week 9 NFL officiating trends, all from the column that went 37-23 last season!