There is talk almost every week about NFL officiating and how it impacts games this season. For example, there was plenty of discussion about whether the right call was made for the Kansas City Chiefs when a Kadarius Toney touchdown was nullified because the WR lined up offsides. But everyone is hoping that the officials are not the main topic after a playoff game.
While the regular season sees each NFL ref have a consistent crew from week to week, that changes in the playoffs.
NFL Referee Assignments for Wild Card Weekend
All penalty stat information is courtesy of NFLPenalties.com. Based on the performances of the various officials during the season, the crews are assigned each week from the NFL’s officiating roster.
Cleveland Browns at Houston Texans | Clay Martin
The Browns and Texans were both in the top four for most penalties this season. The New York Jets led the NFL with 124 penalties called against them, while the Browns and Dallas Cowboys had 115. The Texans had 114.
Miami Dolphins at Kansas City Chiefs | Brad Rogers
The Dolphins and Chiefs were in the middle of the NFL rankings for most penalties. Kansas City had five games with three penalties or fewer. The Chiefs were 4-1 in those games, and the only loss was the team’s opening-night collapse against the Detroit Lions.
Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills | Carl Cheffers
The Steelers had the fewest penalties called against them among the 14 playoff teams. Pittsburgh’s 86 infractions were the sixth-fewest in the NFL this season.
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The Bills had the seventh-most penalties called against them, but they’ve seen fewer flags during the five-game win streak to end the season. Buffalo had 4.4 penalties per game over the last five games after averaging seven per game over the first 12 games.
Green Bay Packers at Dallas Cowboys | Ron Torbert
The Cowboys were called for the second-most penalties in the NFL this season. Dallas had 97 penalties through 13 games (7.5 per game), but over the last four games they had only 18 penalties (4.5 per game).
Green Bay’s 105 penalties were the eighth highest in the league, but they are coming off a Week 18 win against the Chicago Bears, when they only had one penalty for five yards.
Los Angeles Rams at Detroit Lions | Craig Wrolstad
The Lions were 16th in the league with 5.7 penalties per game, while the Rams were 24th overall with 5.2 penalties per game. Los Angeles had 3.3 penalties per game during the four-game winning streak to end the season.
Philadelphia Eagles at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Adrian Hill
The Eagles beat the Buccaneers at Tampa Bay in Week 3, and Adrian Hill’s crew officiated that game. Philadelphia had three penalties for 20 yards, and Tampa Bay was called for four penalties for 20 yards. Hill will have some members of his regular season crew, but there will be other officials mixed in.
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