Referee Report: Official Whose Crew Made One of Worst Calls of Zac Taylor Era Working Sunday's Bengals Game

Jay Morrison | Dec 11, 2024

Nov 29, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; NFL referee Craig Wrolstad (4) signals during the game of the St. Louis Rams against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals won 31-7. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images / Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

CINCINNATI – The referee who worked the game with one of the worst calls of the Zac Taylor era will be on the job Sunday when the Cincinnati Bengals travel to play the Tennessee Titans.

In a 2021 road game against the New York Jets, what looked like a routine tackle by Mike Hilton on a third-and-11checkdown with two minutes to go instead was called unnecessary roughness for use of helmet.

It looked as though Jets running back Michael Carter initiated the helmet-to-helmet contact as Hilton was going for his legs, but Hilton drew the flag and Jets ran out the remaining time and won the game 34-31.

It wasn’t Wrolstad who threw that flag. It was line judge Tripp Sutter, who is a lesser know name but rivals Ron Tobert as the Bengals’ biggest officiating villain.

Sutter won’t be working Sunday’s Bengals game as he is on Bill Vinovich’s crew this year.

Wrolstad has been a head official since 2014 and has earned playoff assignments in each of the last three seasons after being left off the postseason schedule in five of his first seven seasons.

Wrolstad and his crew have climbed to fourth in the league in penalties per game at 14.08 after throwing at least 16 accepted flags in their of the last five games, including last week’s Bills-Rams contest.

In previous seasons, the Wrolstad crew was among the least flag-happy groups, ranking 15th of 17 in 2023 and 14th in 2022.

The Bengals are 5-4 in games with Wrolstad as the head referee, but they are 1-4 in their last five.

Here is a closer look at those nine games:

Week 11, 2014: Bengals 27, Saints 10

Bengals 4 penalties for 33; Saints 5-34

Week 12, 2015: Bengals 31, Rams 7

Bengals 3-35; Rams 7-45

Week 11, 2017: Bengals 20, Broncos 17

Bengals 3-14; Broncos 5-50

Wek 5, 2018: Bengals 27, Dolphins 17

Bengals 6-47; Dolphins 9-85

Week 7, 2019: Jaguars 27, Bengals 17

Bengals 6-50; Jaguars 11-130

Week 8, 2021: Jets 34, Bengals 31

Bengals 5-51; Jets 8-46

Week 14, 2021: 49ers 26, Bengals 23 (OT)

Bengals 2-19; 49ers 6-40

Week 16, 2022: Bengals 22, Patriots 18

Bengals 8-62; Patriots 10-82

Week 16, 2023: Steelers 34, Bengals 11

Bengals 3-20; Steelers 2-15

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