The 2023 NFL playoff field has been officially set and wildcard weekend will kick on Saturday and end on Monday night.
Twelve teams will play this weekend with the No. 1-seeded Baltimore Ravens of the AFC and San Francisco 49ers of the NFC waiting in the wings with their first-round bye.
We know the dates, times, and locations for all the matchups, and now the NFL officially announced the head referee assignments for all six wildcard games:
- Cleveland Browns vs. Houston Texans – Clay Martin
- Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Buffalo Bills – Carl Cheffers
- Los Angeles Rams vs. Detroit Lions – Craig Wrolstad
- Miami Dolphins vs. Kansas City Chiefs – Brad Rogers
- Green Bay Packers vs. Dallas Cowboys – Ron Torbert
- Philadelphia Eagles vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Adrian Hill
Just announced: Here are the referee assignments for Wild Card Weekend: pic.twitter.com/bcEilyYWDI
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 8, 2024
Notably, Brad Allen was not added to the playoff lineup after his officiating crew called a controversial illegal touching penalty on the Detroit Lions at the end of their Week 17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Otherwise, though, the list of referees looks pretty sound, with Cheffers and Torbert both having Super Bowl officiating experience.
The matchups are intriguing as well, with huge storylines on the docket like Tyreek Hill’s return to Kansas City, Matthew Stafford’s return to Detroit, and Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy taking on the Packers at home.
Ideally, who the referees are shouldn’t play into the outcome of any of these games.
But stranger things have happened in the NFL, as we’ve seen both in the playoffs and the regular season over the past several years.
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