Our playoff predictions: Hussey and Smith top our lists

The 2024 regular season has already reached its end and the postseason is upon us, which means it’s time for our 13th annual postseason predictions. Here are our guesses as to who will be the referees in the playoffs that start later this week.

You can see how we did in previous years, and feel free to make your own predictions in the comments section below.

Ben Austro

So, I’m reminded that I’ve subjected myself to this exercise every year for the last 13 years. I was happy when they expanded the playoffs to 13 games until I realized how that actually makes it harder to do this.

I’ve been impressed with the overall game management of Shawn Smith for the past few years, and I think this is the year he gets the big game. He’s built up a decent streak of playoff assignments, ending up in the AFC Championship Game last season. Smith has established himself as a top-tier official and hasn’t shown any sign of slipping.

I’ve also been watching John Hussey, who was elevated to referee 10 seasons ago at a time where it seemed his window had closed to become a white hat. He quickly dispelled that notion by his perennial postseason presence on the field. He’s very much your lunchpail referee. No flair or style, but he unassumingly gets the job done right. He’s certainly in the conversation for returning to the Super Bowl — he worked number XLV as a line judge — but I have him working his third Conference Championship game as referee.

Rounding out the championship games, I have Bill Vinovich, because he’s Bill Vinovich. No, not just for his name, but he is that consistent presence in the top tier for a reason. He is simply the standard for a modern-day referee should be. Because he isn’t able to get back-to-back Super Bowl assignments by rule, he will work a championship game instead.

There are more than nine more referees that I feel made the grade for the playoffs, so there are a few not on my list that should pick up a couple of alternate assignments. It may not seem as prestigious, but it’s part of the fabric of efficiently run playoff games. Having solid officials on the sidelines to help the management of the game is key to the success of the crew.

Of those nine, I do have Alan Eck getting his first postseason assignment at referee in the first year eligible.

That said, there are some big names not on my list, and goodness knows I’ve been wrong many times in the past. But regardless of how it lines up, there are always a head scratchers every year. This year will be no exception.

Mark Schultz

Once again the prediction season is on us. Getting right to it, I tried to put in some new officials and officials who are working up a level or two.

In the wild card round, I have Brad Allen, Adrian Hill, Clete Blakeman, Scott Novak, Clay Martin and Ron Torbert. Some of these officials have worked championship games and the Super Bowl. They are still high-achieving officials, but time marches on and others need to step into championship rounds. I think Scott Novak gets back to the playoffs, as does Brad Allen.

In the divisional round I have John Hussey, Shawn Hochuli, Shawn Smith and Bill Vinovich. Vinovich is a playoff mainstay as are the rest of these officials. The Super Bowl officials come from the divisional round, so it will be interesting to see who get these games.

For the championship round I am going out on a limb this year. I have two referees who have never worked this round as a white hat. I have Alex Kemp and Craig Wrolstad working the semi finals. Wrolstad worked a Super Bowl as a side judge, so he has experience in big games. I’ve noticed that Wrolstad has worked several marquee games this season, and I have a hunch he might break through to a championship game. When I’ve seen Kemp this season, I’ve been impressed. While he’s never worked a championship game, he will do just fine.

For the Super Bowl, I have John Hussey flipping the coin this season. He has consistently put in good seasons, run good games, and has all the tools needed to be a Super Bowl official. Plus I’ve predicted him for several seasons for the Super Bowl, I have to be right some year!

This is getting harder each year. I finished my predictions and realized I left Carl Cheffers and Alan Eck off the list. Each season there is a veteran official who surprisingly is left off the list. I think both of these officials will work as alternates during the playoffs, and it would not surprise me at all if I am wrong and these two get on the field in the playoffs.

Cam Filipe

This task becomes increasingly harder, year after year. Not because there are too few officials to pick from, but rather the opposite — there are too few slots open for so many good officials. Highlighting some of my choices in the Wild Card Playoffs, I believe that Alan Eck will break onto the playoff scene in his first year of eligibility as a white hat. He has shown two straight years of solid game administration and crew management, and has seen high-profile assignments as a result. I may be asking for trouble, however, by placing Bill Vinovich in the first round. While I still believe he is the league’s top referee, there are just too many up-and-coming strong referees, as well as stalwart veterans who deserve a taste of the top tier. I may regret that choice.

In the Divisional Playoffs, Ron Torbert and Craig Wrolstad will be assigned, neither are strangers to this stage of the tournament. Scott Novak has not had an on-field playoff assignment as a referee since 2020, but I think that changes this year, and his continued no-nonsense attitude will thrust him straight to the second round. Novak won’t win you over with style points, but he runs a tight ship, and I feel like he deserves a trip back to the postseason.

In every season where he has been playoff-eligible since being promoted to referee, Shawn Hochuli has been assigned to a Divisional Playoff. I think he is long overdue to officiate past that. I had him as my Super Bowl pick two years ago, and a Conference Championship prediction last year. I’ll be making the same prediction this year as I did a year ago. Joining him in the Conference Championship games will be John Hussey, who was my honorable mention to get the call for the Super Bowl this year. I slotted Hussey in the Wild Card Playoffs last year, and I feared I would regret it, and I now do regret it. Hussey is one of my two favorite white hats in today’s NFL, and I believe will work his third Conference Championship in the last six years.

For my prediction for Super Bowl LIX, I am selecting a white hat who I haven’t predicted for the Super Bowl before. Previously, I alluded to up-and-coming strong referees. While I consider this referee in that category, I have to remind myself that he is already in his 10th season overall and 7th as a referee. Nevertheless, he has proven to be among the best in the league and that’s why I’m choosing Shawn Smith to officiate Super Bowl LIX. He is a dependable leader, and fits all the criteria of a Super Bowl official.

I just want to put out there, I left out Clay Martin and Alex Kemp this year. I’m thinking that will be a mistake. However, like I said at the start, there are too few slots open. These picks may be terribly wrong, but who knows? That’s what makes this exercise fun year after year.

Predictions

Ben won last year after two tiebreakers needed to be invoked, narrowly ending Cam’s hopes for a threepeat. Ben leads the pack with 6 all-time wins (Ben and Mark have competed in all predictions; Cam joined the competition in 2018).

Super Bowl selections are shown in parentheses in the Divisional Round.

Scoring

We will score the predictions as follows: 5 points for a correctly slotted referee, 3 points for selections off by a round, 2 for two rounds, and 1 for three rounds (ties broken by the number of correctly slotted referees, then by scores in each round in descending order).