The Buffalo Bills will begin their road to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans by hosting the Denver Broncos at Highmark Stadium on Sunday.
The Bills are entering the postseason as the AFC's No. 2 seed for the third consecutive season, and their upcoming matchup will be the fifth consecutive season in which they've hosted a Wild Card game. Buffalo has managed to win their NFL playoff opener in each of the past four seasons, and they're heavily favored to win their fifth consecutive one against Denver.
The Broncos entered the season with significant dead money on their salary cap and a rookie quarterback under center. Despite finishing third in the AFC West, Broncos coach Sean Payton managed to sneak his team into the playoffs as the AFC's No. 7 seed. Bills quarterback Josh Allen is playing at an MVP-caliber level, but a victory is far from guaranteed.
And on any given Sunday, Buffalo's dreams of a Lombardi Trophy could be dashed by the dreaded neon yellow laundry.
Bill Vinovich will lead officiating crew for Bills-Broncos playoff matchup
The NFL announced officiating assignments for Wild Card Weekend on Monday, and Buffalo will see a familiar face in Bill Vinovich, who was assigned to lead the officiating crew in Orchard Park, N.Y.
Vinovich typically doesn't get too involved. Vinovich's crew averaged the fewest flags per game during the 2024 regular season, per ESPN's Kevin Seifert. The same crew also threw the fewest flags in 2021 and 2022, according to the NFL penalties database.
However, Vinovich won't be accompanied by his usual cohorts in the postseason. Along with experience-based eligibility requirements, the NFL uses a tier system to assign officials for postseason games based on a grading system throughout the regular season, per Football Zebras. That means Vinovich's crew may be comprised of a few officials who are more willing to toss a flag.
Vinovich has oversaw some notable losses for the BIlls in recent years. He was the referee for Buffalo's 38-24 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2021 AFC Championship game. Vinovich also called two penalties that extended Denver's game-winning drive against Buffalo in Week 10 of the 2023 regular season.
Vinovich also infamously scolded Bills fans for throwing snowballs onto the field during the second quarter of a matchup against the Miami Dolphins in 2022. Vinovich told fans he would enforce a 15-yard penalty against the Bills if the snowballs continued to rain down, but it was an empty threat — ESPN's officiating analyst John Parry told The Buffalo News that the NFL rulebook doesn't give officials the ability to penalize the home team under those circumstances.
As Payton knows all too well, Vinovich's conservative approach isn't always a positive thing. During the infamous 2018 NFC Championship game, Vinovich's crew missed a blatant pass interference penalty that helped the Los Angeles Rams defeat the New Orleans Saints, who were coached by Payton at the time. That was Vinovich's last game in New Orleans.
The Broncos ranked No. 19 in penalties (108) this season but surrendered the 10th-most penalty yardage (941). The Bills ranked No. 12 in penalties (112) but surrendered the 13th-fewest penalty yardage (833). Denver's opponents were called for the fifth-fewest penalties (81) and sixth-fewest penalty yards (670), while Buffalo's opponents drew the fourth-most penalties (110) for the fifth-most penalty yards (998).
