49ers Screwed by Ref Assignment for Cowboys Game

Updated: Sep 10, 5:00pm UTC

The NFL Playoffs roll into the Divisional Round as eight teams remain with their sights set on Super Bowl 57. The competition is getting fiercer, especially for a classic NFC rivalry matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers.

The Cowboys and 49ers are the final game during the Divisional Round, set to kick off on Sunday, Jan. 22 at 6:30 p.m. ET. The world will be watching and the NFL recently revealed the head referee for this clash.

Cowboys-49ers Referees

According to league insider Rick Gosselin, the referee assigned for Cowboys-49ers is veteran Bill Vinovich. Vinovich began his career in 2001, took a brief pause from 2007 to 2012, but has resumed his work since then. This will be his 17th playoff assignment, which includes a pair of Super Bowls, six Conference Championships and 6 Divisional Round matchups.

As pointed out by insider Gosselin and Michael Gehlken. Outside of the New York Giants, the Dallas Cowboys are the most penalized team remaining in the postseason at 5.9 per game. This is also a rematch of the 2021 Wild Card Round, a game in which the Cowboys were penalized 14 times and lost 23-17.

Vinovich is a fan of letting teams play. His crews assigned 70 fewer penalties than the crew that threw the most flags (Carl Cheffers) in 2022. That accounts for 835 fewer penalty yards. San Francisco drew 5.4 penalties per contest, ranking 15th in football, so they don't stand to get as much of a benefit as Dallas does.

Despite the Cowboys' advantage in terms of officiating, the 49ers are considered 3-point home favorites in this clash, per NFL odds on FanDuel Sportsbook.

Adam Taylor McKillop is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Adam Taylor also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username atmckillop. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.