Detroit Lions

How the Lions play under each referee

Every Lions game grouped by individual referee. Over this sample the Lions are 83-2-87 (48.3%); each ref win rate below is compared to that team average.

Kent Payne has the most Lions games in this sample (14).

Updated Sep 30, 2026, 12:31 a.m.·2016-2026 (2016-09-01 – 2026-08-22)

Lions record: 83-2-87 (48.3%)

Officials with enough games overlap across crews; combined team-official games (589) exceed 172 unique team matches. Table lists refs with 8+ games.

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Tom Stephan
+21.7 pts vs team-2.3
Jonah Monroe
+21.7 pts vs team-0.5
Derick Bowers
+21.7 pts vs team+0.1
Greg Meyer
+21.7 pts vs team-2.0
Brad Rogers
+21.7 pts vs team+0.1
Greg Steed
+18.4 pts vs team-1.9
Allen Baynes
+18.4 pts vs team+0.8
Dale Shaw
+18.4 pts vs team+0.4
Bill Vinovich
+18.4 pts vs team+0.6
Ramon George
+18.4 pts vs team-0.1
Anthony Flemming
+18.4 pts vs team-0.4
Jim Quirk
+15.3 pts vs team-0.4
John Hussey
+15.3 pts vs team+0.4
Terry Brown
+15.3 pts vs team-2.6
Scott Novak
+15.3 pts vs team+0.2
Jimmy Buchanan
+14.2 pts vs team-0.5
Dyrol Prioleau
+14.2 pts vs team-1.1
Dana McKenzie
+14.2 pts vs team-1.7
Mark Stewart
+14.2 pts vs team-1.1
Anthony Jeffries
+14.2 pts vs team+0.8
Tripp Sutter
+14.2 pts vs team+1.0
Joe Blubaugh
+14.2 pts vs team+0.4
Carl Johnson
+14.2 pts vs team+1.6
Tim Podraza
+11.7 pts vs team+0.3
Kevin Codey
+11.7 pts vs team+0.6
Aaron Santi
+11.7 pts vs team+0.2
Carl Paganelli
+10.0 pts vs team-1.2
Clay Martin
+10.0 pts vs team+0.2
Kent Payne
+8.8 pts vs team+0.4
David Meslow
+7.3 pts vs team+0.4
Carl Cheffers
+7.3 pts vs team+0.2
Terrence Miles
+7.3 pts vs team+0.9
John Jenkins
+7.3 pts vs team+1.1
Greg Bradley
+1.7 pts vs team-0.1
Alex Kemp
+1.7 pts vs team-0.5
Tony Michalek
+1.7 pts vs team+1.1
Julian Mapp
+1.7 pts vs team-2.0
Alan Eck
+1.7 pts vs team+1.0
Greg Wilson
+1.7 pts vs team+0.0
Jeff Lamberth
+1.7 pts vs team-0.5
Steven Woods
+1.7 pts vs team+1.4
Shawn Hochuli
-2.1 pts vs team-0.3
Clete Blakeman
-2.1 pts vs team-1.5
Roy Ellison
-2.8 pts vs team-0.4
Rusty Baynes
-3.9 pts vs team-1.2
Jerome Boger
-3.9 pts vs team-0.8
Mark Pellis
-3.9 pts vs team+0.7
Craig Wrolstad
-3.9 pts vs team-0.4
David Oliver
-3.9 pts vs team+0.9
Scott Helverson
-8.3 pts vs team-1.2
Adrian Hill
-8.3 pts vs team+0.2
Fred Bryan
-10.8 pts vs team+0.3
Jerod Phillips
-10.8 pts vs team-0.9
Patrick Holt
-10.8 pts vs team-0.5
Todd Prukop
-15.0 pts vs team+1.2
Michael Banks
-15.0 pts vs team-0.9
Mearl Robinson
-15.0 pts vs team+0.3
Patrick Turner
-18.3 pts vs team+0.4
Boris Cheek
-18.3 pts vs team-0.3
James Coleman
-18.3 pts vs team-2.2
Rich Martinez
-23.3 pts vs team+0.3

Close-game proxy

How Detroit Lions compares in close-margin games vs the full sample. Based on official box scores.

Close games (≤7 pt margin)

88 of 172 games match this window

Avg combined points
Close-game avg
48.8
Season avg
49.3
Pressure impact
-0.5
Avg flags
Close-game avg
12.7
Season avg
12.4
Pressure impact
+0.3
Over rate
Close-game avg
51.1%
Season avg
51.7%
Pressure impact
-0.6 pp

Over benchmark: 49.3 combined points · Seasons: 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26 · 172 total games in sample

Pregame toss-ups (spread ≤5.5)

What am I looking at?

Individual refs: stats for one official across all Lions games they worked, even with different partners.
Team baseline: the Lions went 83-2-87 (48.3%) across this sample. Ref win rates show how they compare to that team average.
Whistle differential: flag differential. A positive number means opponents are flagged more often than the Lions.

Ref×team W-L rebuilt from 2793 ESPN game logs (2016-2026). 4629/5986 ref×team pairs meet the 3+ game matrix gate. Ties are excluded from straight-up W-L. Ref game counts rebuilt from DISTINCT game_id in game logs.