NFL Names Veteran Referee Bill Vinovich For Super Bowl LIV

• The NFL has named Bill Vinovich as the head referee for Super Bowl LIV.
• This is Vinovich’s second Super Bowl officiating.
• Both the Chiefs and the Packers have fared well with Vinovich as a referee.

MIAMI - With Super Bowl LIV coming closer and closer, the NFL has begun naming the referees for the big game. One such referee is 14-year veteran Bill Vinovich. This would be Vinovich’s second Super Bowl as an officiator and will also be his third postseason game this season.

Historically the NFL only assigns refs a max of two games for the postseason.

Vinovich is no stranger to postseason action, however, as this Super Bowl will tally his 14th career postseason game as an officiator. With Vinovich officiating, and the success the Packers and the Chiefs have seen under his gaze, sports bettors can try and predict how the game would go if either or both teams make it to the Super Bowl.

Throughout his career, Vinovich has been a part of some very legendary NFL moments as he officiated the 2014 Super Bowl nail biter between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, as well as the 2018 NFC Championship game between the New Orleans Saints and the LA Rams. The latter of which ended in controversy.

Controversial No-call

During the 2018 NFC Championship Game between the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans saints, things ended on a controversial no-call on a pass interference penalty.

With 1:49 left in the game and both teams tied at 20-20, Rams DB Nickell Robey-Coleman hammered Saints WR TomyLee Lewis on an attempted pass from QB Drew Brees. With more than 73,000 fans in attendance and millions at home watching the game, everyone held their collective breaths waiting for the call.

But then nothing, no flag no whistle. Not one of the 7 referees, including Bill Vinovich, called the clear pass interference.

This blatant no call lead to Al Riverson, the NFL’s VP of officiating admitting that there were not one but two missed penalties on the play, alluding to the helmet to helmet no call as well.

Following this, the league implemented a new rule where no calls were able to be reviewed.

Familiar Faces

Even with this blunder, Vinovich has gone on to have a respected season in 2019 and two out of the remaining four potential contenders have seen real success under his watch. The teams that would see a real benefit from Vinovich officiating are the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs.

The two teams have seen Vinovich the most out of the four remaining teams, with the Chiefs playing 16 games with Vinovich officiating and the Packers 17 games. Current Super Bowl odds have the Chiefs as a +135 favorite to win it all.

When Vinovich has officiated their games, both teams have seen successful outcomes. The chiefs are 10 and 6 in those outings while the Packers are 10 and 7, with their last five games under Vinovich’s officiating resulting in a 4 and 1 record.

The other teams, the Titans and 49ers are 8-5 and 6-6 respectively under Vinovich’s watch. Sports bettors can look at these results to help dictate their wagers if either or both teams make the 2020 Super Bowl.

Current odds for Super Bowl LIV have the Chiefs as the front runners with +135, followed by the 49ers at +160, the Packers at +650, and finally the Titans at +700.

Vinovich Still Viewed As A Top Referee

Despite 2018’s blunder, Vinovich is still a highly respected referee in the NFL. So respected in fact that he made ESPN’s Kevin Seifert’s list as a top 10 referee in the NFL.

Seifert marveled at the consistency Vinovich displays as a referee, stating “His crews usually average the fewest penalties per game in the league, producing crisp games with maximum focus on players and coaches.”

In 2019 Vinovich averaged 11.63 penalties per game, which is much lower than the league average of 13.4.