Bill Vinovich will be the referee for the clash between the Panthers and Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, which will greatly help in cementing the playoff landscape of the NFC. Carl Cheffers and his crew have the week off.
In recent weeks, the officiating department has been moving around the assignments of some crews after the schedule has been set, so once again, Football Zebras reiterates that these assignments are potentially subject to change in the coming days. Update: All assignments have been confirmed by the NFL.
All games are on Sunday and are listed below based on their impact on the playoff picture. Potential (or clinched) playoff seeds are shown in superscripted numbers, with zeros indicating teams that have not clinched a playoff spot. Times listed are Eastern.
See our partner site, Quirky Research, for more on the tiebreakers in the NFC seeds and AFC seeds.
Sunday, Dec. 31
Game affecting division and wild card
- Panthers2/3/4/5 at Falcons6/0 (4:25 p.m.) — Bill Vinovich
Game to clinch division
- Saints3/4/5 at Buccaneers (4:25 p.m.) — Walt Anderson
Games for wild card qualification
- Bengals at Ravens5/6/0 (4:25 p.m.) — Ron Torbert
- Raiders at Chargers6/0 (4:25 p.m.) — Ed Hochuli
- Bills5/6/0 at Dolphins (4:25 p.m.) — Jeff Triplette
- Cardinals at Seahawks6/0 (4:25 p.m.) — Walt Coleman
- Jaguars3 at Titans5/6/0 (4:25 p.m.) — Tony Corrente
Games with top seed implications
- Bears at Vikings2/3 (1 p.m.) — Craig Wrolstad
- Jets at Patriots1/2 (1 p.m.) — Brad Allen
- Browns at Steelers1/2 (1 p.m.) — Jerome Boger
Game affecting other conference seedings
- 49ers at Rams3/4 (4:25 p.m.) — Terry McAulay
No playoff implications
- Texans at Colts (1 p.m.) — Gene Steratore
- Packers at Lions (1 p.m.) — Pete Morelli
- Washington at Giants (1 p.m.) — John Hussey
- Cowboys at Eagles1 (1 p.m.) — John Parry
- Chiefs4 at Broncos (4:25 p.m.) — Clete Blakeman
NFL cancels final @SNFonNBC by opting not to flex ANY game into the Sunday night slot. All games will be done before East Coast primetime, just as it was in the '80s. I never realized this was even an option! https://t.co/fkOO2ZhLPf
— Fá´á´á´›Ê™á´€ÊŸÊŸ Zᴇʙʀᴀs (@footballzebras) December 25, 2017
End of regular season
STOP POSTING THE REDSKINS AS WASHINGTON. SOUNDS REALLY GHETTOISH AND BLACK TO ME. ITS THE REDSKINS. STUPID IDIOT. GO BACK TO AFRICA WITH LEBRON AND THE IDIOT BALL THUGS.
Tom really you know how fucking racist your sounding grow the hell up
Does anyone else think that Tony Corente will be the referee for Super Bowl 52. Seems like they have given him a lot of big matchups and prime time spots. And he has got another big one this week. And he did Patriots vs steelers in week 15. So yea my pick for Super Bowl 52 referee Is Tony Corente
If I was Corrente, I’d turned round & told Riveron where to go in that NE@PIT game. Disgraceful decision. Same with Wrolstad last week (although no doubt NE would have beaten BUF but even so – changed the game).
So glad we’ve got the best ref to finish our season in Anderson!
Well, I do agree that Redskins should be called Redskins, but that’s where it ends with the first comment.
I don’t see where Corrente and crew screwed up New England vs Pittsburgh. Rulus are rules, messed up as they may seem at times.
I still like Steratore and hope he gets the Super Bowl, but if Corrente gets it, that’s okay, too.