Barely does a week pass in the NFL where one referee or another does not take center stage. Unfortunately, for NFL referees, being on center stage is usually not a good thing, and rarely does an official escape the spotlight all season. Let’s take a look at the NFL ref assignments this Sunday and Monday and what we might expect to see from them.
NFL Referee Assignments for Week 2
All times Eastern and game day Sunday unless stated.
- Green Bay Packers at Atlanta Falcons | 1 p.m.
Tra Blake - Las Vegas Raiders at Buffalo Bills | 1 p.m.
Craig Wrolstad - Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals | 1 p.m.
Shawn Hochuli - Seattle Seahawks at Detroit Lions | 1 p.m.
Alex Kemp - Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans | 1 p.m.
Carl Cheffers - Kansas City Chiefs at Jacksonville Jaguars | 1 p.m.
Adrian Hill - Chicago Bears at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 1 p.m.
Bill Vinovich - Los Angeles Chargers at Tennessee Titans | 1 p.m.
Alan Eck - New York Giants at Arizona Cardinals | 4:05 p.m.
Land Clark - San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Rams | 4:05 p.m.
Brad Allen - New York Jets at Dallas Cowboys | 4:25 p.m.
Clete Blakeman - Washington Commanders at Denver Broncos | 4:25 p.m.
Brad Rogers - Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots | 8:20 p.m.
Shawn Smith - New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers | 7:15 p.m. (Mon)
Scott Novak - Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers | 8:15 p.m. (Mon)
Ron Torbert
Looking back at what we saw in Week 1, it was Tra Blake’s crew that threw the most flags with 24. They had a total of 22 accepted penalties, also the highest in the league. Intriguingly, 13 of their penalties were against the home team, which was four more penalties than the road team. That was the biggest discrepancy against home teams in the league last week.
Blake’s crew was above average in terms of penalties and flags per game last year, but not significantly. As the season goes on, we will find out whether it was Blake’s crew being strict or simply a case of ill-discipline from the Baltimore Ravens.
Alex Kemp’s crew was the one that had the most penalties against the road (11) team compared to the home (six).
Last year, Kemp’s crew called slightly more penalties against the road team, but the discrepancy was not as large. Expect those numbers to even out in the coming weeks.
On the other end of the spectrum are the crews of Hussey, Blakeman, and Cheffers. The crews of those officials threw just 11 flags in their first game, with seven accepted penalties for Hussey and Cheffers and nine for Blakeman. Hussey’s group is on a bye this week, but Cheffers and Blakeman are both on the schedule.
MORE: NFL Coverage Map Week 2
Of course, basing analysis on one week is not a great idea. At this stage, we have no idea if the records are based on the team’s discipline or the tendencies of the officiating crews. Even looking back to previous seasons is tough because officiating crews change from year to year.
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.
