HOCHULI MAKES IT TO THE PLAYOFFS

Joining the Chargers in the playoffs is the referee whose Week Two mistake nearly derailed their season. Yes, Ed Hochuli is working the Ravens-Dolphins playoff game. As a league source points out, it means that Hochuli and his crew graded out high enough, despite Hochuli’s high-profile blunders, to qualify for a postseason assignment. Based on the procedures used by the NFL in 2007, it appears that 10 different crews works at least one playoff game. One of those ten crews then handles the Super Bowl. So, if this same approach applies to the 2008 season, the fact that Hochuli and company are working the Ravens-Dolphins game means only that he and the other members of the crew finished in the top ten of 17 total crews. [Editor’s note: See the “Update” at the bottom of the page; Hochuli’s crew was actually among the top eight of all 17.] According to the NFL.com Game Books for last year’s postseason games, the ten referees who made the playoffs in 2007 included Hochuli (wild-card round; Titans-Chargers), Walt Anderson (wild-card; Giants-Bucs), Scott Green (wild-card, Jags-Steelers), Walt Coleman (wild-card; Redskins-Seahawks), Pete Morelli (divisional round; Giants-Cowboys), Gerry Austin (divisional; Chargers-Colts), Jerome Boger (divisional; Jags-Pats), Mike Carey (divisional; Seahawks-Packers), Terry McAuley (conference championship round; Giants-Packers); Jeff Triplette (conference championship; Chargers-Pats). Carey and his crew then worked the Super Bowl. Left in the cold were Ron Winter, Larry Nemmers, Bill Vinovich, Bill Carollo, Tony Corrente, Gene Steratore, and Bill Leavy. We don’t know whether the assignments for the wild-card, divisional, and conference championship rounds are based on where the crews finished on the total grading. But such a procedure would make sense. If so, it means that Mike Carey did a great job in last year’s divisional game between the Seahawks and Packers, since he parlayed that appearance into the Super Bowl assignment, over the two guys who received the assignment for the AFC and NFC championship games. UPDATE: NFL spokesman Greg Aiello tells us that there is only one playoff assignment per crew, but that regular-season crews are used for the first two rounds only. So Hochuli’s crew was, in reality, among the top eight of all 17. For the conference championships and the Super Bowl, the league uses the top-rated officials for each of the various positions. So if Hochuli was one of the top three referees, we’ll see him again, either in the AFC/NFC title games or in the Super Bowl.