Report: Referee For Patriots-Charges Determined

The New England Patriots are facing the Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC divisional-round game on Sunday. Now we also know the name of the referee who will oversee New England’s playoff opener.

It will be referee Ron Torbert and his crew. It’s Torbert’s ninth season as an official and fifth as a referee. Torbert became a full-time referee in 2014, and has called four New England games. The Patriots are 4-0 in those games. During the AFC divisional round game against the Tennessee Titans at Gillette Stadium, Torbert’s men called 14 total penalties for 99 yards. In LA’s six games that Torbert called, the Chargers are 2-4.

Things do not really go in favor of the Chargers. It’s the weather, the timing and the referee.

“This is obviously a great football team that has played well on the road all year and it is going to be our biggest challenge in all phases, there’s no doubt about that,” quarterback Tom Brady said during his appearance on WEEI’s Mut & Callahan on Monday.

“They are committed at all levels. They have great pass rushers in [Joey] Bosa and [Melvin] Ingram. They are stout against the run, [Brandon] Mebane, being one of the best run defenders we’ve ever played against. Again, I think their scheme presents some problems because they have a lot of team speed. They have a lot of those smaller guys playing at the linebacker level and then they’ve got a great secondary. Hayward is a great player. [Jahleel] Addae and [Adrian] Phillips, Derwin James has had an incredible season as a rookie. It’s a very good team. They are good on special teams, and obviously on offense. They can keep up with any offense in the league. We’re going to have to be able to have a great complementary game. There’s no one phase of our team that is going to be able to carry us. It is going to take every player, every coach on the roster to pull this one out,” he added.