The referees are always scrutinized in big games and the Super Bowl is the biggest of them all. However, this year provides even more reason to dive deep into referee tendencies with all the non-Chiefs fans complaining about the calls Kansas City has been getting in key moments.
The Super Bowl odds should not be deeply affected by the officiating crew, but there are certainly some trends that could lead to a particular game script. Ron Torbert and his crew was known for throwing lots of flags this season, so how will that affect my NFL picks?
Find out in my referee analysis for Chiefs vs. Eagles on Sunday, February 9.
Super Bowl Referee Analysis
The Crew
Ron Torbert will be the head referee for Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans. This will be his second Super Bowl as head referee, and his last was Super Bowl LVI between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals. It will also be his 11th career postseason game as head referee.
The only other official with Super Bowl experience will be Side Judge Boris Cheek. He was a Field Judge for Super Bowl XLII between the New York Giants and New England Patriots and for Super Bowl 50 between the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos. He was a Side Judge for Super Bowl LIV between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.
The other officials are Mike Morton (Umpire), Max Causey (Down Judge), Mark Stewart (Line Judge), Mearl Robinson (Field Judge), Jonah Monroe (Back Judge), and Kevin Brown (Replay Official).
Not a single one of these officials were a member of Torbert’s regular season crew. However, Cheek, Causey, Robinson, and Monroe were all apart of Torbert’s crew in the NFC Divisional Round game between the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders.
Torbert’s tendencies
In the regular season, Torbert’s crew was known for letting the flags fly. He ranked fourth in flags thrown, tied for third in called penalties, third in penalty yards, and tied for third in dismissed flags.
He was especially heavy in throwing flags for offensive holding, ranking fourth in the NFL. He also called the fifth-most roughing the passer penalties, which will be scrutinized with Patrick Mahomes.
Torbert tied for the second-most unnecessary roughness penalties but was ranked in the bottom half of both defensive holding and defensive pass interference calls.
In his playoff game this season, he called nine penalties for 55 yards. Only four of those nine were “judgement calls” and the only penalty he called more than once in the game was a false start.
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Looking back at Super Bowl LVI
There were very few flags thrown in Torbert’s lone previous Super Bowl. There were six penalties for a total of 41 yards. There were eight total flags thrown and six of the eight were “judgement call” penalties.
Five of the eight flags were thrown in the fourth quarter, including one massively controversial defensive holding call on third and goal against the Bengals that led to the game-winning touchdown for the Rams.
RON TORBERT IS REFEREEING THE SUPER BOWL THIS YEAR.
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) January 24, 2025
TORBERT CALLED A HOLDING PENALTY ON THE #BENGALS, GIVING THE #RAMS A SUPER BOWL AND CREATING ONE OF THE BIGGEST SPORTS CONTROVERSIES.
Torbert has had some of the biggest controversies in league history. pic.twitter.com/ywymXjL9bc
So, while it was a quiet game in terms of penalties, there was a game changing call late that was quite controversial.
Team tendencies
The Chiefs were the second-least penalized team in the NFL at 5.41 per game. It was relatively evenly split between offensive and defensive as well as pre-snap and post-snap.
However, they were called for the second-most offensive holdings per game in the NFL. Torbert and his crew called a lot of offensive holdings this season.
Torbert has not refereed a Chiefs game since the AFC Championship game in January 2023 against the Bengals. That game also ended in heartbreak for the Bengals on a controversial late call.
The Eagles were the ninth-least penalized team at 5.90 penalties per game. Theirs were skewed a little heavier towards offensive penalties but evenly split between pre- and post-snap. Illegal downfield pass was their biggest hit, leading the NFL in that penalty.
Torbert called two Eagles games this season with both the regular season opener and closer. The Eagles had seven penalties in the first game and just one in the second. They drew 10 penalties against their opponent in the opener and six in the closer.
Picks to make based on the Super Bowl referees
While Torbert’s crew was heavy with throwing flags in the regular season, he has shown to be much lighter in his playoff experience.
I think we will see a first half of almost no flags and letting them play before they start to draw tighter late in the game, which has been his M.O. in these big games. However, the Chiefs may get called for some holding calls against this vaunted Eagles front seven.
This may lead to some more quick passes for Mahomes to his playmakers to make guys miss out in space. Guys like DeAndre Hopkins and Travis Kelce will be the key targets in the short game.
Hopkins has some very short lines at 1.5 receptions (with the Over at plus money) and 11.5 receiving yards. I personally prefer his receptions line, especially at plus money, in case he is unable to break free on one of those short hits.
Kelce’s lines are understandably inflated, but I still like the 6.5 receptions at plus money to the Over. He has gone Over this line in 14 of his 24 career playoff games and two of his four Super Bowls with six receptions in each of the other two.
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