NFL officials made a lot of news in Week 7. Some controversial calls were made, like at the end of the Cleveland Browns vs. Indianapolis Colts game; some calls were controversially not made, like the crew that did not call a single penalty on the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football against the Miami Dolphins.
Let’s take a look at the officiating assignments for this week.
NFL Referee Assignments for Week 8
All times Eastern and game day Sunday unless stated.
- New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins | 1 p.m.
Land Clark - New York Jets at New York Giants | 1 p.m.
Shawn Smith - Jacksonville Jaguars at Pittsburgh Steelers | 1 p.m.
Alan Eck - Atlanta Falcons at Tennessee Titans | 1 p.m.
Clay Martin - Houston Texans at Carolina Panthers | 1 p.m.
John Hussey - Los Angeles Rams at Dallas Cowboys | 1 p.m.
Adrian Hill
- Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers | 1 p.m.
Shawn Hochuli - New Orleans Saints at Indianapolis Colts | 1 p.m.
Craig Wrolstad - Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Commanders | 1 p.m.
Carl Cheffers - Cleveland Browns at Seattle Seahawks | 4:05 p.m.
Bill Vinovich - Baltimore Ravens at Arizona Cardinals | 4:25 p.m.
Tra Blake - Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos | 4:25 p.m.
Brad Allen - Cincinnati Bengals at San Francisco 49ers | 4:25 p.m.
Ron Torbert - Chicago Bears at Los Angeles Chargers | 8:20 p.m.
Brad Rogers - Las Vegas Raiders at Detroit Lions | 8:15 p.m. (Monday)
Clete Blakeman
Shawn Smith and his crew had some questionable calls at the end of Colts vs. Browns last week. This week, Smith’s crew will be officiating a rivalry game between the Giants and Jets. The crew called two defensive penalties in the last minute of the game as the Browns were looking for the go-ahead touchdown.
Smith’s crew only threw two flags in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter in their first five games this season. Both calls were in the Week 3 game between the Chargers and Vikings. There was an illegal use of hands called against the Chargers’ defense and a delay of game penalty on the Vikings as Minnesota tried to take the lead.
Last week in Philadelphia, Brad Allen’s crew called 10 penalties against the Dolphins and none against the Eagles, and now they head to Denver for Broncos vs. Chiefs this week. Last Sunday night’s game was an outlier this season — there has only been one penalty difference at most between teams in every other game Allen’s crew officiated this season. However, last season the crew had at least a five-penalty difference in six of 17 games.
All penalty stat information below is courtesy of NFLPenalties.com.
Each season, officials are assigned to referees from the NFL’s officiating roster. You can see the full crews for the 2023 season in our handy guide.
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