The Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs will have referee Ron Torbert on the call for Sunday’s AFC title game.
The Bengals have seen Torbert in some very prominent spots lately, including last season’s Super Bowl against the Rams. He was also on the call for Chiefs vs. Bengals in 2021 and the Ravens-Bengals clash in Week 18.
According to Football Zebras, this is Torbert’s first conference championship. He’s in his 13th season and Sunday will mark his 11th postseason assignment.
According to Pro Football Reference, home teams win 62.5 percent of the game’s Tobert calls this season (league average is 56 percent). His crew calls 10.75 penalties per game on average.
Granted, things were similar with Carl Cheffers’ crew for the divisional round and the Bengals were called for just two penalties to Buffalo’s eight.
A referee crew that tends to let players just play — matching a theme of the playoffs, too — Torbert’s side might be very favorable to the Bengals as Cincinnati wideouts look to get physical at the line of scrimmage in order to shake press coverages.
Of course, the sting of questionable calls from the Super Bowl, including that controversial one on Logan Wilson, remains. But the Bengals can overcome any sort of officiating factor if they keep playing as they did last week.
