As we witnessed during the Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys Wild Card Game last week officiating can make a difference in teams advancing or going home.
This week in New England the referee is Bill Vinovich. Here’s how Vinovich compares to the league average this season when it comes to penalties and home team success:
Sporting Charts, a website that tracks officiating tendencies to help give gamblers and advantage, had this to say about Vinovich:
“The latter part of his career has seen him become a bit more favorable to road teams, and that trend has been reinforced during this season. His low-penalty tendencies have been consistent throughout his career, so expect more low-scoring games going forward.”
The over/under line for today’s game in Foxboro is 47 ½, which could put the game in the vicinity of the 2011-12 AFC Championship Game that ended with a 23-20 score.
Vinovich (who happens to wear No. 52 if you are into karma) has called one game each for the Ravens and Patriots in 2014. He had the Ravens game in Pittsburgh on November 2 when we saw Ben Roethlisberger light up the scoreboard with 6TD passes on his way to a 43-23 victory. During the game the teams were flagged 17 times for 175 yards, 10 of which went against the Ravens for 108 yards.
On December 14 Vinovich was in Foxboro to patrol the Patriots 41-13 win. There his crew threw 10 flags for 86 yards, 5 going against the Pats for 51 yards.
If you are looking for good news as it relates to the Ravens and Vinovich, he did have the call during the Mile High Miracle game on January 12, 2013. Then laundry hit the Sports Authority Field turf 18 times for 143 yards, eight of which were directed at the Ravens for 56 yards.
The Huffington Post’s Rob Kirkpatrick believes that the Ravens were the beneficiaries of two potentially game changing calls in that contest.
It’s funny that when rooting for your team you seem to forget the calls you get but vividly remember those you don’t. Kirkpatrick recalls two key plays. Check it out here!
If the Ravens are as fortunate against Tawmy Boy, we will probably be treated to some of this…
