Tag: Shawn Hochuli

NFL’s bogus ‘What is a catch?’ process cost the Saints a big gain vs. 49ers

The NFL’s bogus “What is a catch?” process cost the Saints a big gain vs. 49ers, and FOX rules analyst Dean Blandino didn’t help clarify that decision:

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Come on, man. Here’s another example of instant replay maybe being the worst thing to happen to the NFL. The New Orleans Saints lost a 30-yard pickup that would have put them in scoring position early against the San Francisco 49ers, with Taysom Hill sending a well-placed ball to rookie standout Chris Olave.

The ball bounced from Olave’s hands after he went to the ground, but the officiating crew signaled a pass completion and fresh set of downs for New Orleans deep in San Francisco territory. But 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan threw a challenge flag, and the play was changed to an incomplete pass after a film review. And the broadcast crew’s explanation didn’t help.

“Yeah, we’re still wondering,” joked FOX Sports rules analyst Dean Blandino when asked what constituted a catch in the NFL. He continued, “This to me is a good overturn. Olave gets control, he gets both feet down, now he has to perform an act common to the game. He has to take another step. That left step with his foot, he almost trips over his own foot. He doesn’t take an addition step. He goes to the ground, he loses the football, he doesn’t complete the process.”

But Olave did take that third step — it’s what sent him to the ground, with his toes striking the turf as the 49ers defender clinging to his leg drug him down from behind. But as Blandino and apparently referee Shawn Hochuli interpreted it, he didn’t make a classic heel-arch-toe sequence before falling down, so that didn’t count as “an act common to the game.” Never mind that he moved his whole leg after taking two steps with the ball in his hands.

Look, this is ridiculous. The NFL has boxed itself into a corner by litigating and relitigating the specifics to defining a catch, and the game is worse off for it. And nobody seems to understand what should actually happen there. This season we’ve seen referees cite rules that were publicly abolished years ago like the “surviving the ground” rule. If nothing else, we’ll toss this incident on top of the pile of evidence that the NFL needs to stop cutting corners and pinching pennies and only employ full-time rules officials, not part-time lawyers and middle school principals.

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Referee Shawn Hochuli assigned to Week 12’s Saints-49ers game

Referee Shawn Hochuli assigned to Week 12’s Saints vs. 49ers game. The Saints haven’t seen him since Week 2’s loss to the Bucs:

Here’s the Week 12 referee assignments from Football Zebras, with Shawn Hochuli and his crew working Sunday’s game between the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium. The Saints last saw Hochuli in Week 2’s loss at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in which they were fouled 9 times for 60 yards — slightly above their season-average of 6.7 penalties for 55.9 yards per game. New Orleans is 3-2 in games Hochuli has worked as a referee, dating back to 2019.

Hochuli has a reputation for seeking the spotlight during games, but his crew has actually thrown the sixth-fewest penalty markers per game this season (11.9), ranking seventh-lowest in penalty yardage per game (100.2). They’ve thrown more flags for offensive holding (30) than any other crew across the league, so that’s something the Saints need to be mindful of.

As for San Francisco: the 49ers rank closer to league-average than the Saints in penalties per game (5.9) and penalty yards per game (44), reflecting disciplined play in each phase of the game. They’re an annoyingly well-coached team, and it’ll be challenging for the Saints to slow them down on Sunday. If they’re going to find an edge, it’s likely not coming from Hochuli and his crew.

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Referee Shawn Hochuli’s crew assigned to work Chiefs-Chargers game

The #Chiefs will get referee Shawn Hochuli and his crew for the first time this season against the #Chargers on “Sunday Night Football.”

Fifth-year NFL referee Shawn Hochuli and his crew have been assigned as the officials for the Kansas City Chiefs’ game on “Sunday Night Football” against the Los Angeles Chargers according to Football Zebras.

You might remember Shawn’s father, Ed Hochuli, who was the league’s longest-tenured official before retiring ahead of the 2018 NFL season. Shawn was promoted to referee that year after serving as a back judge for several seasons prior.

This is the first time that Shawn has officiated a Chiefs game this season and the first time he’s officiated any game for Kansas City since their Week 3 loss to the Chargers last season. In total, he’s officiated six games for Kansas City since 2018 and the Chiefs have a 4-2 overall record in those games.

Hochuli’s crew has thrown 111 flags through nine games this season, good for the seventh-most in the NFL on the year. Their 22 dismissed penalties are tied with two other crews for the fourth-most this year. The crew has also called five more penalties on away teams than home teams this season.

Offensive holding (28) and false start (24) penalties are called by this crew at an overwhelming rate. Then comes defensive pass interference and defensive holding, which have both been called eight times by this crew in 2022. The Chiefs and Chargers are both tied (6) for the third-most defensive pass interference penalties by a team this season. They’re also tied for the fourth-most offensive holding penalties (12) and fewest defensive holding penalties (1). Where there is some disparity is the false starts. Los Angeles is tied for the sixth-most in the NFL (12), while Kansas City has the fewest in the NFL (4). Those false start penalties could end up being the biggest difference in officiating in this game, especially if Chiefs fans show up to SoFi Stadium as they have in the past.

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Referee Shawn Hochuli assigned to Week 2 Saints-Bucs game

Referee Shawn Hochuli has been assigned to Week 2’s Saints game with the Buccaneers. New Orleans is 2-2 with Hochuli and his crew on hand:

Here’s something we’ll hope doesn’t become relevant on Sunday. NFL referee Shawn Hochuli and his crew have been assigned to Week 2’s game between the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, making it his fifth Saints game since being promoted to full-time head referee back in 2018. The Saints are 2-2 in games that Hochuli has worked, most recently seeing him and his crew in last year’s road win over the Seattle Seahawks.

Hochuli’s crew fouled the Saints 7 times for 90 penalty yards in that game, against 6 fouls and 53 yards on Seattle. That lined up with his trend on the year of penalizing home teams (107 fouls for 979 yards) less often than the visitors (116 flags for 1,030 yards). In their first game of the 2022 season, Hochuli and his officials worked a chaotic Bengals-Steelers tilt that saw a dozen flags fly: the visiting Steelers drew 8 penalties for 59 yards, whereas the hosting Bengals received 4 fouls and lost 27 yards.

So in theory that would be bode well for the Saints, but these things can fluctuate wildly on a game-by-game basis. New Orleans drew 8 penalty markers in their season-opener, with 6 of them being defensive fouls, ceding 99 yards; Tampa Bay on the hand received 5 fouls, losing just 25 yards. They’ll need to clean up some things (well, a lot of things, as Dennis Allen has repeated to both his players and the media) ahead of Week 2’s game, regardless of who the opponent and referee are. With just three full practices to work with in the days ahead, they’ve got their work cut out for them.

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NFL fans loved the way referee Shawn Hochuli said ‘HOWEVER’ while announcing key penalty

“HOWEVER!”

Who doesn’t love a good, dramatic penalty call?

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Rams were leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-13 in the fourth quarter of the NFL’s divisional round as Tom Brady was marching down the field looking for a score. On fourth and 14 on the Rams’ 36, Brady launched a pass to Mike Evans down the field, but the pass fell incomplete as he was rocked hard by Eric Weddle.

A flag was thrown after the play, as fans in Tampa Bay awaited a call that could have given the Buccaneers new life on the drive. After the referees discussed the play, it was decided that it was a dead ball unnecessary roughness foul, meaning 15 yards were tacked onto the play after the Rams received the ball on downs.

A confusing explanation, but the funniest part of the entire exchange was the way referee Shawn Hochuli announced the call, putting a huge emphasis on “HOWEVER”.

NFL fans were absolutely enamored with the way Hochuli announced this call, as it instantly became a meme.

Tom Brady draws the first unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of his career

Referee Shawn Hochuli needs to simmer down when it comes to the definition of unsportsmanlike conduct. Tom Brady would agree.

You don’t need us to tell you that officiating has been… HIGHLY uneven in the NFL this season, and that is continuing into the playoffs. Shawn Hochuli, the son of legendarily jacked referee Ed Hochuli, seems to share his dad’s penchant for camera time in crucial situations, and this manifested itself in a rather odd penalty with 10:39 left in the first half of the Buccaneers-Rams divisional round game.

Tom Brady was rather unhappy about a hit from Rams edge-rusher Von Miller that drew blood from Brady’s lip, Brady barked about it, and the younger Hochuli gave Brady the first unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of his 22-year NFL career.

Hochuli also gave Bucs linebacker Lavonte David a 15-yard hit after Tampa Bay’s defense gave up a 70-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Cooper Kupp. We’re not sure when an etiquette overreach became such a crucial part of such a violent game, but it might be time for Hochuli (who had called just two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties this season before this game) to simmer down a bit.

NFL referee home team winning percentages for Week 16

Here is a look at the winning percentages for NFL referees in 2021 as Week 16 is underway.

The holidays are here, which means late season NFL action that could determine who sits on the couch in January and who contends for a trip to Los Angeles in February.

The following is a list of each NFL referee’s home team winning percentage heading into Week 16 of the 2021 season. The assignments are according to Football Zebras while the stats are proprietary to this author. Officiating crews are subject to change.

Shawn Hochuli leads off Week 16 on Thursday night between the San Francisco 49ers and Tennessee Titans.

Alex Kemp has the first Christmas Day game between the Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers. Craig Wrolstad works the Indianapolis Colts at the Arizona Cardinals.

Bill Vinovich has the Sunday nighter between Washington and Dallas.

Adrian Hill finishes the week off with the Miami Dolphins at New Orleans Saints.

Seahawks RB Adrian Peterson calls for accountability for NFL officiating

Running back Adrian Peterson shared a call on Instagram for more acountability for officials.

The Seattle Seahawks got worked over by the NFL in multiple ways this week, from the COVID-19 related postponement to the awful officiating by Shawn Hochuli’s crew in Tuesday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

Running back Adrian Peterson shared a call on Instagram for more acountability for officials.

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NFLPA president says league wanted to cancel Seahawks vs. Rams, 2 other games

Seattle fans aren’t going to like hearing this, but Tretter and the NFLPA did the right thing.

The NFL originally wanted to cancel last night’s game between the Seahawks and the Rams over the latter’s COVID-19 outbreak. This news comes from NFLPA president, Browns center J.C. Tretter – who says the league also wanted to axe the Eagles/Washington matchup and the Raiders/Browns game for the same reasons.

Tretter says the player’s union fought back in order to get those six teams their game checks.

The rules that the NFLPA and the league agreed to before this season began had several stipulations on potential forfeits – among them being that the COVID-19 outbreak had to be among unvaccinated players.

At last count, 97% of the league is vaccinated and coach Pete Carroll says his team all recently got booster shots. That means the vast majority of the players who wound up on COVID-19 lists this week (including 10 Seahawks) were there despite doing everything in their power to avoid catching the virus. As far as we’re aware, there hasn’t been one reported protocol violation for any of the teams going through COVID issues.

Fans of Seattle have every reason to complain about how events unfolded for this team in Week 15, to say nothing of the officiating on Tuesday evening. Tretter and the NFLPA did the right thing, though.

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Seahawks fans, observers call out questionable officiating in loss to Rams

Now, Seahawks fans and impartial observers alike are calling out the refs on Twitter.

The Seahawks got a royal shafting from the NFL this week. First, the league office pushed back their matchup with the Rams by two days, which allowed LA to get several key players back off their COVID-19 list while Seattle lost several to an outbreak of their own.

Then, Shawn Hochuli’s officiating crew made a number of questionable to outright horrible calls in tonight’s 20-10 loss for Seattle. Now, Seahawks fans and impartial observers alike are calling out the refs on Twitter. Here’s what they’re saying.