nfl referee assignments playoffs 2023

2023 Wild Card Playoffs Assignments

2023 Wild Card Playoffs Follow-up

2023 Wild Card Playoffs Photo Gallery

2023 Wild Card Playoffs

Nfl assigns officiating crews for the 2023-24 wild card playoffs.

The six referees for Wild Card Weekend have been announced.

Football Zebras has confirmed the officiating crews for the Wild Card Playoffs. This is the fourth year of the expanded playoff system with six Wild Card Playoff games.

In 2020, the NFL moved to five alternates for the early postseason rounds, which will continue this season. The alternate officials are a referee, an umpire, a line of scrimmage official (down judge or line judge), a deep wing official (field judge or side judge), and a back judge. Officials who have alternate assignments are still eligible for an on-field assignment in the Divisional Playoffs or Conference Championships. Past practice is that the on-field Wild Card officials do not work another on-field assignment, although it is possible to see a double assignment for some isolated reasons. In any event, none of the officials listed here, including the alternates, would be receiving a Super Bowl assignment, other than as an alternate.

All times are Eastern. The prior playoff experience that is listed for the crew chief includes his service as an NFL official, including as referee and any other crew position (excluding alternate assignments).

Saturday, Jan. 13

Afc wild card: browns at texans, 4:30 p.m. nbc peacock.

Clay Martin is the referee, who is in his 9th season and 6th as referee. This is Martin’s 5th postseason assignment, including 4 Wild Card Playoffs and a Divisional Playoff.

AFC Wild Card: Dolphins at Chiefs, 8:15 p.m. Peacock

Brad Rogers is the referee, who is in his 7th season and 5th as referee. This is Rogers’s 2nd postseason assignment, and his first as referee. His first assignment, a Divisional Playoff, was as a field judge.

Sunday, Jan. 14

Nfc wild card: packers at cowboys, 4:30 p.m. fox.

Ron Torbert is the referee, who is in his 14th season and 10th as referee. This is Torbert’s 12th postseason assignment, including 4 Wild Card Playoffs, 6 Divisional Playoffs, 1 Conference Championship, and Super Bowl LVI .

NFC Wild Card: Rams at Lions, 8:15 p.m. NBC Peacock

Craig Wrolstad is the referee, who is in his 21st season and 10th as referee. This is his 14th postseason assignment, including 7 Wild Card Playoffs, 4 Divisional Playoffs, 2 Conference Championships, and Super Bowl XLVII . His Super Bowl assignment was as a field judge.

Monday, Jan. 15

Afc wild card: steelers at bills, 4:30 p.m. cbs paramount+.

Carl Cheffers is the referee, who is in his 24th season and 16th as referee. This is Cheffers’s 19th postseason assignment, including 6 Wild Card Playoffs, 7 Divisional Playoffs, 3 Conference Championships, and Super Bowls LI , LV , and LVII . All of his Super Bowl assignments were as a referee.

This game was rescheduled from Sunday afternoon due to a snow emergency .

NFC Wild Card: Eagles at Buccaneers, 8:15 p.m. ABC ESPN ESPN2 ESPN+

Adrian Hill is the referee, who is in his 14th season and 5th as referee. This is Hill’s 5th postseason assignment, including 4 Wild Card Playoffs and a Divisional Playoff.

Many officiating firsts in the Wild Card round

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Who got the cowboys game and the lions games

January 10, 2024 at 5:02 pm

So it”s Hochuli, Smith or Vinovich for the SB?

January 14, 2024 at 4:03 pm

GLAD TO SEE BILL VINOVICH IS NOT REFEREEING ANY GAMES .WE TURN THE GAME OFF WHEN HE IS REFEREEING AT MY TAVERN , .HE ‘S A SCOUNDRAL FOR THE CALL HE MADE AGAINST THE SAINTS IN 2018 . HE SHOULD NEVER REF ANOTHER GAME . I CAN’T BELIEVE HE DIDN’T GET FIRED FOR THAT TERRIBLE CALL, AND IF YOU LOOK INTO HIS BACKGROUND HE OURELY WANTED L A RAMS TO WIN. LOOK UP WHER HE LIVED AND WHAT SCHOOLS HE PATONIZED ETC . SMELLS OF CHEATING . HE SHOULD REFERREE JV HIGH SCHOOL GAMES IF HE COULD EVEN DO THAT . HE IS A TERRL IBLE CROOKED REF. FIRE HIM !!!

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BREAKING: NFL Announces Interesting Referee Assignments For Divisional Round Playoff Games

The NFL has announced the referee assignments for the four NFL Divisional Round playoff games this weekend.

The NFL Football Operations X/Twitter account announced the following referees for Divisional Round weekend: John Hussey ( Houston Texans vs. Baltimore Ravens), Alex Kemp (Green Bay Packers vs. San Francisco 49ers), Bill Vinovich (Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Detroit Lions) and Shawn Hochuli ( Kansas City Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills).

Referee assignments for the Divisional Round of the #NFLPlayoffs 🏈 pic.twitter.com/ZbIdjF3Yx3 — NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) January 16, 2024

Referees for the postseason are selected based on how they scored in a grading system . The NFL does this with the goal of providing teams with the best possible quality of officiating for the postseason, though this obviously doesn’t always end up being the case.

For what it’s worth, none of these referees were assigned for Super Wild Card Weekend that concluded on Monday.

Between these four officials, Vinovich is the only one that served as the head referee for a Super Bowl game. Vinovich and his crew were assigned Super Bowl 49 ( New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks) and Super Bowl 54 (Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers).

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Fans may note that referee Brad Allen was not assigned for Super Wild Card Weekend nor the Divisional Round. Allen’s crew was heavily criticized this year for several missed calls late in the Chiefs-Packers Week 13 game, as well as the whole “illegal touching” fiasco in the Lions-Dallas Cowboys Week 17 contest.

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Alex Hoegler is a news and script writer at TPS. A lifelong sports fan, he attended Langara College in Vancouver, where he graduated with a diploma in journalism. … Read More

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2023 Roster of NFL Officials

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• Who are the officials for Jaguars-Chiefs in Divisional Round of 2023 NFL Playoffs

Here is a look at the referee and other officials for the Jaguars-Chiefs Divisional Round playoff game.

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The Kansas City Chiefs are set to host the Jacksonville Jaguars for the first game of the Division Round in the 2023 NFL Playoffs . Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. ET from Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City and will air on NBC.

Shawn Hochuli will be the lead referee for Saturday’s matchup. Hochuli is in his fifth season as a referee and is the son of former NFL referee Ed Hochuli. His father was an official in the NFL from 1990-2017. Shawn has refereed in six playoffs prior to this one including one Wild Card matchup and five Divisional Round matchups.

The Chiefs are an 8.5-point favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook and the point total sits at 53. Kansas City is -435 on the moneyline while the Jaguars are +350.

Below is the full officiating crew for the Jaguars-Chiefs game. All information comes courtesy of Football Zebras .

Referee: Shawn Hochuli Umpire: Paul King Down judge: Danny Short Line judge: Greg Bradley Field judge: Terry Brown Side judge: Chad Hill Back judge: Greg Meyer Replay official: Tyler Cerimeli Replay assistant: Mark Bitar ALT: Brad Allen ALT: Tab Slaughter ALT: Patrick Holt ALT: Anthony Flemming ALT: Tony Josselyn

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NFL Referee Assignments Divisional Round Games: Refs Assigned for This Weekend

W hile the regular season sees each NFL ref have a consistent crew from week to week, that changes in the playoffs. The league grades an official’s performance each game they work during the regular season. The grading is part of how officials are assigned to postseason crews.

The four referees assigned to games this weekend were off during the Wild Card games. Each referee has some members of their regular crew with them this weekend.

NFL Referee Assignments for Divisional Round Games

All penalty stat information is courtesy of NFLPenalties.com . 

Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens | John Hussey

Houston was one of the most penalized teams in the NFL during the regular season but only had three flags against them in last week’s win against the Cleveland Browns.

Baltimore had 955 penalty yards this season, the third-highest in the NFL. The Dallas Cowboys led the league with 1,012 penalty yards in 18 games this season.

Green Bay Packers at San Francisco 49ers | Alex Kemp

The 49ers have averaged 5.3 penalties per game in 12 wins and 7.4 penalties per game in five losses. San Francisco had 12 penalties in a Week 6 loss to the Cleveland Browns and 10 penalties in a Week 16 loss to the Ravens.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions | Bill Vinovich

The Lions have been called for defensive pass interference 12 times this season, the fifth highest in the NFL. The Buccaneers have only been called for defensive pass interference six times this season, the fourth-lowest in the league.

Detroit has been called for illegal contact on defense six times, the third most, while Tampa Bay’s defense has not had an illegal contact penalty.

Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills | Shawn Hochuli

Buffalo only had two penalties against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card game to continue a significant trend. The Bills were 6-6 after 12 games and were averaging 6.8 penalties per game. In the last six games, Buffalo has won each game and is averaging four penalties per game.

MORE: NFL Playoff Bracket

The last time these two teams met in Week 14, a penalty decided the game. Chiefs wide receiver Kadarius Toney lined up offsides and negated a 49-yard touchdown that would have given Kansas City a lead with 1:25 left in the game. After the penalty, Patrick Mahomes had three incomplete passes to end their comeback attempt.

Want to predict the results of the 2023 NFL postseason with our FREE  NFL Playoff Predictor ? How about looking into in-depth breakdowns of  team depth charts  or the  NFL playoff schedule ? Pro Football Network has you covered with all that and more!

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Referee carl cheffers' crew assigned to work bengals vs. bills playoff game, share this article.

The Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills will have referee Carl Cheffers and his crew on the call for Sunday’s divisional round playoff game.

Cincinnati doesn’t see Cheffers a ton despite his impressive resume, though he was on the call in late November when the Bengals took down the Titans.

According to Football Zebras , Cheffers is in his 23rd season and has overseen 17 playoff games, including a pair of Super Bowls.

An offer for Bengals fans

Notably for the Bengals and Bills, according to data compiled by  Sharp Football Analysis , Cheffers has led the NFL in penalties per game in each of the last two years.

Something especially noteworthy for the Bengals — only 43 percent of those were called on the home team.

According to Sharp, not only are the Bills 6-1 with Cheffers are referee during the Josh Allen era, there’s this:

“A closer look at penalty percentages in key categories with Carl Cheffers shows a clear edge for the home team. He called 69% of combined defensive holding, offensive holding, and defensive pass interference penalties on the road team. That is above average.”

Cincinnati’s game with the most penalties called against them this year? That win over the Titans with Cheffers’ crew.

Disclaimer: A lot of this sounds bad but that’s just the reality of the matchup. Last week with Clay Martin’s crew the Bengals were seemingly favored in similar ways in the officiating matchup.

The league has clearly told officials to dial back the number of flags in the playoffs and let the players play. That’s probably going to continue in Buffalo, where the Bengals will want a comfortable enough lead to distance themselves from Allen, which would remove the officiating factor, anyway.

Read all the best Bengals coverage at Cincinnati.com and Bengals Wire.

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NFL Referee Assignment for Super Bowl 58 & Impact on NFL Betting

We tend to only focus on NFL referees after a controversial decision or bad no-call. Yet each head NFL referee and his respective crew interprets the game differently.

Gaining insight into the way a game will be officiated can have immense value in the betting market.

A referee who calls more penalties for defensive holding and roughing the passer has a far different impact on game flow than a ref who focuses more on offensive holding and false starts.

Referee style one week may hide a team’s weakness (defensive backs), but a different official who leans heavily on calling pass interference will compound that weakness the next week.

Same team. Different outcomes.

Throughout this 2023 NFL season, we’ll help to identify important trends and tendencies by different NFL referees to help you gain an edge when placing a bet .

Sharp Football Analysis has every angle of Chiefs vs. 49ers covered in our Super Bowl 58 Hub .

NFL Referee Assignment for Super Bowl 58

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• Final 11 weeks in NFL: 58-32 (64%)
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Bill Vinovich’s Impact on Chiefs vs. 49ers in Super Bowl 58

The Chiefs and 49ers meet in Super Bowl 58. The game will officiated by Bill Vinovich, his third Super Bowl as a head referee.

Bill Vnovich was in charge of proceedings in the Chiefs’ 31-20 victory over the 49ers in Super Bowl 54 to conclude the 2019 NFL season. This game marks the first time the same referee has officiated a Super Bowl rematch.

Vinovich is the epitome of a “let ‘em play” referee, especially in postseason games.

We have detailed the decline in offensive holding penalties throughout these playoffs versus regular season averages. Expect that to continue in Super Bowl 58.

San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa brought the issue to the media’s and hopefully the officiating crew’s attention in the lead-up to the big game.

The Chiefs have been the number one beneficiary of the reduction in offensive holding in the playoffs. It would be an ideal scenario for the 49ers to see more offensive holding calls in Super Bowl 58, but that is unlikely.

The all-star officiating crew is a topic of conversation when assessing the Super Bowl. How can we preview a game if the referee in charge doesn’t have the entirety of his regular season crew on the field?

It’s a valid point, and we did an in-depth look at this last week.

If there is one surefire playoff trend, regardless of the crew makeup and the head referee, it’s the emphasis on reducing overall penalties.

Look for the Vinovich-led crew in Super Bowl 58 to follow that script.

Now, let’s assess the strengths and weaknesses of the teams in the Super Bowl from a penalty perspective and how the officiating of the Bill Vinovich-led crew will potentially impact these games

Penalty Tendencies:

• Since Bill Vinovich’s first Super Bowl as a head referee between the Patriots and Seahawks in 2015, his games are averaging 9.5 penalties for 78.4 yards. Keep these numbers in mind for any penalty props that may be available for this Super Bowl
• The Chiefs overall offense and offensive line issues were well-documented throughout the 2023 season. The penalty issues for the Kansas City offense have seen a sharp decline in their playoff run
• The Chiefs averaged 5.3 penalties per game in the 2023 regular season, with 63% committed by their offense. That averages out to around 3.5 offensive penalties per game
• The Chiefs are averaging just 2.6 penalties per game on their current playoff run, with the offense responsible for 70% of penalties. That amounts to around 1.8 offensive penalties per game, a significant drop from the regular season average. Since the drop in offensive penalties is primarily via offensive holding, it’s a huge boon to a Kansas City offense that struggled at times in 2023
• The decline in offensive holding is standard operating procedure every season in the playoffs. The NFL wants an aesthetically pleasing product in highly viewed postseason games. It just so happens Kansas City is the biggest beneficiary of this in 2023
• The 49ers offense is responsible for just 46% of the team’s overall penalties in 2023, with their offensive line responsible for just 24% of the team’s overall penalties
• The 49ers were a below-average penalized team for offensive holding in 2023
• In their Super Bowl 54 matchup in 2020, there was one offensive holding penalty called by Vinovich’s crew. More notable in that game were the non-calls, particularly in situations involving the aforementioned Nick Bosa 
• The 49ers and Chiefs defensive units are the two least impactful at generating offensive holding penalties on the opposing offenses in 2023, ranking 31st and 32nd respectively. In their five combined playoff games in the 2023-24 playoffs, these defenses have generated one accepted offensive holding penalty and have had one additional call declined
• Vinovich ranks second for false start penalties per game
• The 49ers and Chiefs share a common trait in penalties surrendered via passing plays. Defensive pass interference makes up the bulk of penalties surrendered in this category, with 61% of the Chiefs’ infractions and 58% of the 49ers’
• The back judge in Super Bowl 58 is from the Land Clark crew. One of the more controversial no-calls in 2023 came in Chiefs at Vikings in Week 5. It was a late-game defensive pass interference by L’Jarius Sneed on Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison . The flag was thrown by the side judge but picked up after a discussion with the back judge and head referee Land Clark.
• The 49ers and Chiefs offenses are top five beneficiaries of defensive holding infractions
• The Vinovich-led crew has members from the Clark, Shawn Hochuli, and Tra Blake crews. All three were above average calling defensive holding.
• Vinovich is co-ranked number one for illegal use of hands penalties and second overall for illegal block in the back penalties in 2023. These are two categories the Chiefs are highly penalized in versus league average. These infractions are more likely to get called in Super Bowl 58 with the Vinovich and Hochuli crews heavily represented in this game
• No referee has called fewer roughing the passer penalties than Vinovich since the start of the 2018 NFL season, averaging one approximately every seventh game officiated. This is far fewer than other referees over that same stretch. Across the board, the average is one roughing the passer penalty approximately every 2.5 games officiated. Keep these roughing the passer numbers in mind for penalty-specific prop bets in Super Bowl 58
• In playoff games, Vinovich-led crews have called just one roughing the passer penalty in 14 contests officiated since the 2012 season. The inclusion of two Hochuli crew members is the only cause for concern about roughing the passer, as they led the NFL in this category. However, at the end of the day, Vinovich runs this outfit and his numbers override everything else.
• Conversely, Vinovich-led crews in those 14 playoff games have called 13 unnecessary roughness penalties
• Pre-snap penalties are to be avoided at all costs. The Chiefs were one of the best in the NFL this season, ranking 30th overall. It’s worth noting, four of the five teams with the fewest pre-snap penalties in 2023 made the playoffs

Bottom Line:

• Vinovich-led crews are 60-39-2 (60%) to the under since the start of the 2018 NFL season, including 10-7 (60%) to the under in 2023
• In playoff games dating back to 2012, Vinovich is 9-8 to the under. The Chiefs’ 31-20 victory in Super Bowl 54 stayed under the closing total of 52.5 points. We are dealing with a far lower number in this contest
• A little-mentioned factor in the lead-up to this game is the new grass field surface at Allegiant Stadium. Last year’s surface in Arizona was a debacle, and it favored the offenses. From an in-game wagering perspective, the focus on offensive holding, or the probable lack thereof, is issue No. 1. The second piece to the puzzle is field conditions. Those two factors alone will impact the total as much as anything else

If the 49ers bring their “A” game, they can win Super Bowl 58. At their best, San Francisco looked near unbeatable in the 2023 season.

However, it’s been a while since we’ve seen that form, and frankly, they were fortunate to win their first two playoff games.

We thought the Ravens would be a tough out in the AFC Championship, but the moment proved to be too big for them.

The positive for the 49ers is that they have a loaded roster with high-IQ players who shouldn’t make the same discipline-related errors that contributed to the Ravens’ downfall. The team needs to play its best game from the get-go in Super Bowl 58.

Conversely, the Chiefs’ fast starts have had them largely control games during their playoff run. Its coaching staff and its core group of players provide them with an edge in this matchup. This is especially true at the quarterback position.

The bottom line is they won’t beat themselves, making the Kansas City Chiefs the play in this game and the winner of Super Bowl 58.

Bet 49ers vs. Chiefs Now!

Super Bowl 58 Referee Crew & Penalty Trend

Heading into the 2023 NFL playoffs, the three referees most likely to officiate the Super Bowl were Bill Vinovich, John Hussey, and Shawn Hochuli. It’s no surprise five of the seven Super Bowl officials are members are from these crews.

Two members apiece are from the Bill Vinovich and Shawn Hochuli crews.

The remaining three officials are from the John Hussey, Tra Blake, and Land Clark officiating crews.

These five crews represent 30% of all officiating crews in the NFL, which is a key number when detailing the following penalty categories.

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