CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Bengals are referee Brad Allen are getting to know each other quite well.

Allen will work his second Bengals game of the season Sunday when the team faces the Baltimore Ravens at Paycor Stadium.

And it will be Allen’s fourth Cincinnati game in the last 27.

At the other end of the spectrum, referee Shawn Smith hasn’t worked the last 44 Bengals games.

Allen and his crew are throwing the fewest flags in the league this year with an average of 10.18 accepted penalties.

The Allen crew has had exactly seven penalties in four of the last five games, with the Raiders-Cowboys game in Week 11 being the outlier.

In the Bengals game Allen called earlier this season – Week 6 at Green Bay – there were eight penalties for 57 yards.

The Bengals are 4-6 with Allen.

In half of the 10 Cincinnati games Allen has worked, the Bengals have scored at least 33 points, including the 38-33 loss to the Washington Commanders in Week 3 last season.

The Ravens also know Allen well, as he’s worked 15 of their games. Baltimore is 11-4 when Allen is the referee, including a win in their most recent pairing in Week 2 this year against Cleveland.

Allen is one of the rare NFL officials who began his career as a head referee, joining the league in 2014 after working for the ACC.

Allen and his crew were banned from the playoffs in 2023 after the infamous “failed to report” incident with the offensive linemen in the Dallas-Detroit game.

In the crew’s return to the playoffs in 2024 in a game between the Packers and Eagles, Allen and his crew made another controversial call, ruling that a fumble that appeared to be recovered by Green Bay kick returner Keisean Nixon was recovered by the Eagles.

They stuck with the call even after the review showed the ball had definitively been recovered by Nixon.

There were calls for another ban this season, but none has been announced. The one in 2023 wasn’t publicly announced either.

Allen earned a Divisional Round assignment in 2017, but he has worked beyond the Wild Card round since with appearances in 2020, 2021 and 2022 and last year.

Green Bay is 9-4 with Allen as the referee, with the most recent being last year’s controversial playoff game.

Here is the full rundown of Bengals game Allen has called:

Week 3, 2014: Bengals 33, Titans 7

Bengals 7-50; Titans 11-99

Week 1, 2015: Bengals 33, Raiders 13

Bengals 5-32; Raiders 6-50

Week 9, 2017: Jaguars 23, Bengals 7

Bengals 8-77; Jaguars 5-50

Week 16, 2019: Dolphins 38, Bengals 35 (OT)

Bengals 10-77; Dolphins 6-47

Week 4, 2021: Bengals 24, Jaguars 21

Bengals 6-38; Jaguars 2-20

Week 2, 2022: Cowboys 20, Bengals 17

Bengals 7-35; Cowboys 5-45

Week 11, 2022: Bengals 37, Steelers 30

Bengals 6-44; Steelers 8-70

Week 3, 2024: Commanders 38, Bengals 33

Bengals 5-16; Commanders 3-28

Week 11, 2024: Chargers 34, Bengals 27

Bengals 8-56; Chargers 5-50

Week 6, 2025: Packers 27, Bengals 18

Bengals 3-17; Packers 5-40