Chargers assigned official they have not seen in 2 years for wild-card round

The Los Angeles Chargers are set to take on the New England Patriots in the primetime night window on Sunday Night Football for the first round of the NFL playoffs. Aside from their opponent, the Chargers must be aware and study the officials and take note of any trends or areas of emphasis a crew may utilize.

The NFL assigned the officiating crews to each of the wildcard matchups following the conclusion of the regular season. The assignments were released on Monday morning and the Chargers and Patriots have been assigned 19 year NFL veteran refereee Ron Torbert.

The referees for Wild Card Weekend: pic.twitter.com/OKpsiQl7QU
— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) January 5, 2026

Ron Torbert and the Chargers

Ron Torbert, as a veteran NFL referee, has officiated Chargers games before. However, the Chargers have not seen Torbert and his crew since week 15 of the 2023 season.

Unfortunately, the last time Torbert officiated a Chargers game was the Thursday Night Football meltdown when the team quit on then head coach Brandon Staley in Las Vegas leading to a coaching change the following morning.

The crew and their tendencies

Referees talk on the field — Amber Searls-Imagn Images

Most officials are known for certain rules interpretations being more or less strict than the rest of the NFL. Ron Torbert and his crew of officials are 5th in the NFL in total flags thrown. It may be a different version in the playoffs however. The NFL assembles all-star officiating crews for the playoffs so Torbert's 2025 officiating crew will not be the full crew working the matchup.

Officiating crews spend extensive time during the week in meetings and watching film to focus on rule enforcement. Torbert is the head referee and his playoff crew may resemble some of his regular season tendencies simply from meetings they hold together.

Crews across the league have tendencies to lean towards the home or away team. This may be a product of the teams and matchups they are assigned but Torbert's crew has leaned towards more calls against the home team the last 3 seasons and called 116 penalties against the home team versus 89 agaisnt the away team in 2025.

One rule that sticks out is that Torbert and his crew dramatically differ from the rest of the NFL in roughing the passer. Across 16 games this season, they have called roughing the passer a grand total of one time.

Torbert and his crew are also lowest in the NFL at calling another penalty that will play a massive factor in this matchup for both the Chargers and Patriots. They have called pass interference a league low nine times across 16 games. If this trend holds expect the defensive backs to be allowed to play tougher against the receivers.

One penalty the Chargers and the aggressive defense they deploy need to watch out for is unnecessary roughness. Torbert and his crew are tied for the second most calls in the NFL this season at 14.

Summary

Ron Torbert and his new team of officials have been assigned the Chargers wildcard matchup against the New England Patriots. The veteran referee and his crew have called a higher-than-average amount of penalties overall, but rarely called pass interference or roughing the passer. The Chargers defense is aggressive and physical and need to be aware of each individual officials tendencies.

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