The Buffalo Bills will host the New England Patriots at 8:20 p.m. ET on October 5, 2025. Officiating precision matters at the margins in a tight AFC East rivalry under SNF lights. With that in mind, referee Shawn Hochuli and his NFL officiating crew will work Sunday Night Football at Highmark Stadium.
Who Is the Referee for Week 5 Sunday Night Football?
Hochuli is the referee in charge of Sunday’s Bills-Patriots game. As the head of a seven-official on-field crew, Hochuli is responsible for overall game administration.
This includes enforcing rules, announcing penalties, managing the clock, communicating with coaches and captains, and coordinating with the replay booth on reviews.
Rise and shine #BillsMafia. 🤩 pic.twitter.com/s0WDaWC1ul
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) October 5, 2025
Replay operations are standardized across all NFL games. Turnovers and scoring plays are automatically reviewed within the final two minutes of each half and in overtime; potential reviews originate from the booth.
Coaches may challenge other reviewable plays by throwing the red flag; they receive two challenges and earn a third if the first two are successful. After a challenge is initiated, the referee communicates the ruling after consulting the video and the league’s centralized replay guidance.
Bills vs. Patriots Officiating Team
Hochuli’s 2025 seven‑official on‑field crew consists of umpire Larry Smith, down judge Patrick Holt, line judge Tim Podraza, field judge Jason Ledet, side judge Jim Quirk, and back judge Jimmy Russell. Smith, as an umpire, works the defensive interior and focuses on line play, enforcing the rules against illegal use of hands, holding, and ensuring player safety in the trenches.
Holt and Podraza flank the line of scrimmage to govern formation legality, offsides, and false starts, and to rule on forward versus backward passes at the LOS. Ledet and Quirk patrol the deep sidelines, adjudicating defensive and offensive pass interference, illegal contact, and boundary catches.
Russell oversees the deep middle, the process of catching the ball in the end zone, and goal-line coverage, while also assisting with timing. This coordinated crew has appeared together on multiple game cards this season, including Week 1 at Lumen Field, reflecting stable mechanics and consistent enforcement across all phases.
Presnap discipline to avoid drive-changing flags, clean contact at the catch point to prevent automatic reviews on turnovers and touchdowns, and clarity on possession and boundary rulings to keep the game moving forward will be very important. With Hochuli’s crew on the field, the mechanics, communication, and review standards that apply across the NFL will frame how the Bills-Patriots game is called in primetime.