What you need to know about officiating team for Bills' wild-card playoff game vs. Broncos

Here's what you need to know about the officiating team calling Sunday's AFC showdown between the Bills and the Broncos.

Nico Salimbene | Jan 6, 2025

Jan 5, 2019; Houston, TX, USA; NFL referee Bill Vinovich during the Houston Texans game against the Indianapolis Colts during the AFC Wild Card at NRG Stadium. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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The officiating crews for each of the NFL Wildcard Playoff games were announced Monday afternoon, with the Buffalo Bills' matchup versus the Denver Broncos drawing a familiar face in Bill Vinovich. Here's what you need to know about this officiating crew and how it applies to the Bills.

Here are the referee assignments for Wild Card Weekend!#NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/p8gr7Xgb0s
— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) January 6, 2025

Bill Vinovich's crew doesn't get too involved

Oct 24, 2021; Inglewood, California, USA;Referee Bill Vinovich (52) reviews a play on the field in the fourth quarter of the game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Detroit Lions at SoFi Stadium. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Fans watching this Sunday's game should be pleased to learn that Vinovich's crew has thrown the least amount of flags among crews that have officiated all 16 games this season, with just 207 total flags called. Beyond that, Vinovich's crew also called the least amount of flags in 2021 and 2022, per 9NEWS Denver's Mike Klis.

This statistic bodes well for the Bills, as they've taken the 11th most penalties this season, and 3rd most among playoff teams.

Broncos-Bills draw referee Bill Vinovich, whose crew generally calls fewer penalties than others (fewest flags in 2021 and 2022).
— MikeKlis9NEWS (@mikeklis9news) January 6, 2025

Vinovich oversaw some notable Bills losses

pass interference questioning by Taron Johnso

Nov 13, 2023; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills cornerback Taron Johnson (7) questions field judge Joe Blubaugh (57) why he was called for pass interference that set up a winning field goal by the Denver Broncos in the fourth quarter at Highmark Stadium. / Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Vinovich's crew has been the officiating team for some notable Bills losses in recent years. He was the lead referee for the Bills' 38-24 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2021 AFC championship game, and also saw the Bills fall to the New England Patriots 10-14 during the infamous wind game in 2021.

More recently, he was the referee that made the call for too many men on the field during the Bills' 2023 loss to the Denver Broncos, which gave K Will Lutz a second opportunity on a game-winning field goal. In that same drive, Vinovich called a pass interference on CB Taron Johnson which was what set up the go-ahead kick in the first place.

Vinovich gained some notoriety over the years

allen telling fans not to throw snowball

Dec 17, 2022; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) tells fans to stop throwing snowballs on the field during the second half against the Miami Dolphins at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Bill Vinovich may be a name Bills fans could recognize, but not for the right reasons.

Vinovich has gained some notoriety over the years, including with the Bills and their fans specifically. In the 2022 Week 15 matchup versus the Bills and the Dolphins, Vinovich stopped play to plead with fans to stop throwing snowballs onto the field. "We've just been informed that if a snowball hits someone, it'll be a 15-yard penalty against Buffalo," Vinovich told fans at Highmark Stadium, even though no such rule exists pertaining to fan interference.

Announcement at Bills game: "Please stop throwing snowballs. We've just been informed that if a snowball hits someone, it'll be a 15 yard penalty against Buffalo" pic.twitter.com/Br2CWkLyvA
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 18, 2022

Most notably, Vinovich's crew was the officiating team for the 2018 NFC championship game between the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints, the latter being Broncos head coach Sean Payton's former team. Vinovich gained notoriety from that game due to a defensive pass interference no-call, which would've allowed the Saints to run down the clock and defeat the Rams. Instead, the Rams forced overtime off a game-tying field goal and defeated the Saints, bringing them to Super Bowl 53.