Referee Report: Bengals Have 4-Game Winning Streak with Sunday's White Hat

The Cincinnati Bengals will have a pair of winning streaks on the line when they travel to face the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

The Bengals are off to a 2-0 start to the season, but they also have a four-game winning streak with Clay Martin as the referee.

This will be Martin’s second assignment with the Bengals in their last five games. He worked the Week 17 game last year at Paycor when Cincinnati beat the Arizona Cardinals 37-14.

That was the second Cincinnati game of the 2025 season that Martin worked. He also did the Week 7 home game against the Steelers, which the Bengals won 33-31 on Thursday Night Football.

Bengals Haven't Lost with Clay Martin as Referee Since 2020

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green (18) was called for offensive pass interference before making a catch in the fourth quarter during a Week 1 NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Bengals lost 16-13. Los Angeles Chargers At Cincinnati Bengals Sept 13 | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The last time Martin worked a Cincinnati loss was the first game of the Joe Burrow era, a 16-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in the 2020 season opener.

Martin entered the NFL as an umpire in 2015 and was promoted to referee in 2018.0

He and his crew were near the middle of the pack in accepted penalties in 2025, ranking 10th of 17 officials with 12.06 per game.

And Martin has consistently landed near that spot, ranking eighth(12.65) in 2024, 10th (10.76) in 2023, seventh (11.65) in 2022, ninth (11.53) in 2021 and eighth (11.14) in his rookie season in 2020.

One area where Martin and his crew were near the top of the league in 2025 was with defensive holding penalties, ranking third with .88 per game, just shy of league leader Brad Rogers at .94.

Martin has earned postseason assignments in each of the last six seasons, including NFC Championship Game last year between the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams.

He worked a Division Round Game in 2024 and 2020 and Wild-Card Round games from 2021-23, including the Bengals-Ravens classic with Sam Hubbard’s Hubbard-Yard Dash in 2022.

Week 6, 2019: Ravens 23, Bengals 17

Bengals four penalties for 20; Ravens 10-81

Week 1, 2020: Chargers 16, Bengals 13

Bengals 7-44; Chargers 6-35

Wild-Card Playoff, 2022: Bengals 24, Ravens 17

Bengals 7-42; Ravens 4-36

Week 5, 2023: Bengals 34, Cardinals 20

Bengals 4-40; Cardinals 2-16

Week 7, 2025: Bengals 33, Steelers 31

Bengals 4-35; Steelers 7-59

Week 17, 2025: Bengals 37, Cardinals 14

Bengals 5-38; Cardinals 6-51

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