When the FAA grounded all air travel in and out of the United States this week, the NFL on-field product took an interesting amount of collateral damage. While NFL teams scheduled to be on the road for Week 10 weren’t materially impacted due to the myriad of cancellation of flights and the backlog ripple effect, referees were.
On Saturday, the NFL announced that they would be shuffling assignments so that referees would be able to drive to their destinations. Back-up referees will have to be deployed and three contests were impacted. 10 of the 12 Sunday contests had their crews changed out, including the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers. And as any betting aficionado can attest, the ref crew has a major impact on the flow of the contest.
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The two rivals are set to meet Sunday afternoon at 3:25 pm CT. The game was originally going to be called by Bill Vinovich’s crew, but instead will get John Hussey’s crew. Only, Hussey is losing his crew’s umpire, with Duane Heydt the backup ref being assigned to Carolina-New Orleans.
Due to the ongoing nationwide impact to air travel this weekend, the NFL has adjusted its officiating assignments for Week 10 games, reassigning officials to games within driving distance of their hometowns.
The changes will necessitate that three back up referees – umpires Barry Anderson and Duane Heydt and side judge Don Willard – will work as referees in the following games:
Carolina-New Orleans – Duane HeydtJacksonville-Tennessee – Barry AndersonMiami-Indianapolis and Pittsburgh-Cincinnati – Don Willard
Each of the league’s 17 officiating crews have a backup referee identified, and that individual trains throughout the year to work at the referee position should the need arise.
For what it’s worth, the ref crews always have a propensity for certain types of calls. There’s so much going on during any given play in a game, some officials have different things they focus on. If a team has a deficiency there, it could lead to a material impact on a contest.
Vinovich’s crew has the following characteristics, according to NFL Observatory:
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Above average number of 4th Quarter calls
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Below average number of DPI and defensive holding calls
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Way below average number of Roughing the Passer penalties and Neutral Zone Infractions
Meanwhile, Hussey’s crew has their own interesting characteristics:
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Below average offensive holding penalties
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Below average defensive holding penalties
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Way above average offsides penalties
The Cowboys are among the league’s leaders in getting offensive holding called against them with 19 (ranked 24th), while the 49ers rank 10th. This is a big swing in Dallas’ favor if fewer holds are called.
Both teams are Top 5 in fewest defensive holding calls, so not much impact there. They also share a tie for 17th in offsides penalties, so no advantage there either.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys-49ers emergency referee change will cause 1 key impact in W10
