Ninth-year NFL referee Ron Torbert and his crew have been assigned as the officials for the AFC Championship Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals.
Torbert hasn’t officiated a Chiefs game this season, but fans will remember him from 2021, and not in a good way. He was an unscheduled white-hat substitution for John Hussey against the Bengals during their Week 17 regular-season loss. During that game, Torbert’s crew called 10 penalties for 83 yards against Kansas City. It was the second-most penalties the Chiefs had called against them in a single game that season.
If we’re only considering the 2022 NFL season as evidence, Torbert and his crew have been among the best in the league in terms of penalty volume. In 16 games officiated, their 172 penalties called are good for the fourth-fewest in the NFL. That said, once a penalty is called by Torbert’s crew, expect it to stand. Their 20 dismissed penalties are the second-fewest in the NFL this season. They’ve officiated fairly even on the home (89) and away (83) fronts so far this season.
As far as how this crew officiates, they’re definitely not a “let them play” crew and they almost always side with the offense. Torbert’s 17 defensive pass interference penalties tie for the second-most in the league this season. For comparison’s sake, they’ve only called four offensive pass interference penalties all year. The Chiefs lead the NFL in defensive pass interference penalties this season (14) while the Bengals are right around the league average (6). Basically, expect Ja’Marr Chase to continue to get away with pushing off and Chiefs defenders to be penalized for any contact downfield.
Originally Posted by Wisconsin_Chief:
Are you freaking kidding me right now? The Chiefs were right there in that game until Cheffers started handing Brady free TDs, allowing the Bucs to tee off on Mahomes when the Chiefs had to go into full on desperation mode.
Originally Posted by -King-:
We lost a game where we scored 3 points and Mahomes was literally running for his life largely because of the refs?
He changed the entire tone of the game when he started handing Brady free points. The Chiefs were playing really well before Tyrann melted down after that pathetic penalty.
It's astounding to me that some of you don't think these players can't sense when they're getting hosed, and that it doesn't effect their mindset and the way the game progresses.
Whatever, it's not worth discussing. Just hope we are also not discussing it Sunday evening. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Coochie liquor:
So you won’t answer if you think that was a fair officiating job? Just call us tin foil hatters and ignore the question?
I already answered your question.
NFL refs have day jobs. They're human beings with flaws like everybody else.
NFL refs are largely incompetent. They don't steer a damn thing, they're just not good at their jobs. [Reply]
Originally Posted by -King-:
People are preemptively bitching about officiating without even knowing that playoff crews are different from regular season crews. It's fascinating.
yes but what are refs but football mods and you should always yell at and harass the mods [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
I already answered your question.
NFL refs have day jobs. They're human beings with flaws like everybody else.
NFL refs are largely incompetent. They don't steer a damn thing, they're just not good at their jobs.
I don't know if they're incompetent but football is just so extremely fast and chaotic that I don't think there's any way to be "good" at reffing it. It's not like college or even high school refs are known for being great refs. [Reply]
I guess we should give up then. We have no chance. The NFL and the refs are going to screw us.
I'll ask again - why watch if that's the case?
You guys make absolutely no sense. You're basically saying that you're going to bang your head against the wall until it bleeds and then blame the wall. [Reply]
