The worst thing that can happen to officials, referees or umpires in any sport is for fans to know their name. The reason for knowing that name is never to leave a rave review over how they've officiated the games.
Bills fans know the name Shawn Hochuli. And it's not because he's the son of longtime NFL official Ed Hochuli. Hochuli was promoted to referee in 2018, and in four games since 2018, numbers show he has not been kind to Buffalo. In turn, the Bills are sitting at just 1-3 in games operated by Hochuli's crews.
There are plenty of reasons for why that could be the case. In the span of 98 regular-season games, the Bills have gone 64-34. Four games represents just 4.1 percent of those contests, and every team is bound to have a few off days. Those opponents are also the 2018 Ravens (10-6), 2018 Dolphins (7-9), the 2022 Patriots (13-3) and 2023 Eagles (11-6), all of whom were at least competent opponents.
But Buffalo's track record of losing in games with Hochuli as the official is only part of the reason fans are concerned over his assignment of the Bills' AFC divisional round matchup against the Chiefs. The other part of the concern is that since Hochuli became a referee, the Chiefs are 8-2 in games called by Hochuli.
There are other reasons beyond the win-loss records for why Bills' fans aren't thrilled with Hochuli's assignment.
Chiefs vs. Bills referees
Shawn Hochuli is the referee assigned to the Chiefs vs. Bills divisional playoff game. This is the eighth NFL playoff game Hochuli will work. He's in his 10th NFL season and sixth as a referee.
Hochuli's crew includes the following officials:
- Referee: Shawn Hochuli (83)
- Umpire: Terry Killens (77)
- Down judge: Patrick Holt (106)
- Line judge: Tim Podraza (47)
- Field judge: Anthony Fleming (90)
- Side judge: Eugene Hall (103)
- Back judge: Greg Meyer (78)
- Replay official: Tyler Cerimeli
- Replay assistant: Tim Robinson
Why Bills fans are upset by Shawn Hochuli's assignment
There are some stark differences in the games officiated by Hochuli and the games not officiated by Hochuli for the Bills.
| Matchup | Bills' average penalties | Bills' average penalty yards | Penalties | Penalty yards |
| 2018 Ravens | 7.25 | 62 | 10 | 100 |
| 2018 Dolphins | 7.25 | 62 | 13 | 120 |
| 2022 Patriots | 5.75 | 44.3 | 6 | 47 |
| 2023 Eagles | 6.24 | 51.9 | 11 | 80 |
In other words, the Bills are nearly always penalized more with Hochuli calling the game than the average other officiating group. Only when the Bills played the Patriots in 2018 did they come in under their average marks in total flags.
And according to data from NFL Penalties, the average penalties and penalty yards against the Bills is more than just Hochuli's crews being quick to throw a flag. His crews have flagged the Bills on average more than any other team since he became a referee in 2018.
| Team | Games | Average penalties | Average penalty yards |
| Bills | 4 | 10 | 86.8 |
| Buccaneers | 9 | 8 | 73.2 |
| Panthers | 6 | 7.8 | 56.8 |
| Packers | 5 | 7.8 | 82.6 |
| Cowboys | 7 | 7.7 | 66.7 |
The Bills top the list both for average penalties called against them and average penalty yards against them. The penalties top the rest of the list by a whole two flags and the yards are ahead of the Packers by about four yards. Where do the Chiefs rank in those metrics? They average 5.8 penalties and 53.7 penalty yards per game.
Not all penalties are created equal, however, and there's always some recency bias that impact how fans view officiating crews. In this case, the game against the Eagles checks off both boxes.
During the Eagles-Bills game, there were several notable instances in which officiating mistakes went against the Bills. The first was a missed horse collar that would have extended a Buffalo drive late in the second quarter. Buffalo wound up having to punt after an intentional grounding was called on Josh Allen despite him being out of the pocket.
A pretty blatant horse-collar penalty missed here.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) November 26, 2023
Josh Allen's jersey is ripped...pic.twitter.com/1W6wZJsBwb
The next was what appeared to be a catch and fumble on A.J. Brown in overtime, but was not ruled a fumble. It wound up being ruled an incompletion. Had it been ruled a fumble, the Bills would have recovered and the game would have ended with Buffalo winning 34-31.
Is this incomplete or a catch and fumble by AJ Brown? pic.twitter.com/qIc6JHyi1c
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) November 27, 2023
Instead, the Eagles moved 39 yards over the next three plays and ended it with a Jalen Hurts touchdown.
Of course, there were several penalties that went against the Eagles as well. A pair of false start penalties on Jason Kelce backed up Philadelphia and made a game-tying field goal more challenging, forcing Jake Elliott to make the kick from 59 yards away.
Undoubtedly, Hochuli being the official for the game is not going to be a welcome sight for Bills' fans. But considering it was only four games of Bills' data, it's more likely the case of a small sample size than a meaningful trend.
