Who are the referees for the AFC championship game? Chiefs-Bills officiating crew

The NFL has announced which referee crew will officiate the AFC championship game on Sunday.

On duty for the Chiefs' meeting with the Bills on Sunday evening is referee Clete Blakeman and his crew. Blakeman has served as the referee for 15 postseason games in the past, most recently in last year's NFC championship game between the Lions and 49ers.

This week's game will be the first time Blakeman officiates a game this postseason after a week off in the divisional round. His crew's last game was the Week 18 game between the Commanders and Cowboys.

Last week, Clay Martin's crew, which officiated the Chiefs vs. Texans divisional round game, came under fire from both players and fans for some controversial personal foul calls against Houston. Blakeman and his team will have to avoid some of the same controversy in a clash between two AFC titans with plenty of bad blood between them.

Three of the last four times the Bills have been eliminated from the playoffs, it's come at the hands of the Chiefs. As the AFC East winners travel to Kansas City for yet another postseason matchup, they do so looking to break that playoff losing streak to the Chiefs with a trip to Super Bowl 59 on the line.

Here's what to know about Sunday evening's officiating crew, led by Blakeman:

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Chiefs record with Clete Blakeman's officiating crew (since 2018)

Since 2018, when Mahomes took over as the full-time starter for the Chiefs, Blakeman and his crew have officiated 10 Chiefs games that the reigning Super Bowl MVP started. Kansas City went 5-5 in those games. Blakeman's crew most recently officiated the Chiefs in their loss to the Raiders on Christmas in 2023.

According to research from The Athletic's Mike Sando, that .500 win percentage is tied for Mahomes' worst among all officiating crews with Brad Allen's team.

Blakeman's crew was also on duty for Mahomes' first career start, a win in his NFL debut against the Broncos in the final week of the 2017 season. Since Mahomes wasn't yet a full-time starter and Bills quarterback Josh Allen still wasn't in the NFL, it's hard to include that game in the sample size, but it's worth noting.

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Bills record with Clete Blakeman's officiating crew (since 2018)

Allen took over as the Bills' starting quarterback in 2018, the year he was drafted. In the eight games he's played with Blakeman's crew officiating, Buffalo has gone 6-2.

Blakeman and his team last officiated a Bills game in their Week 17 meeting with the Jets, a 40-14 Bills win.

Clete Blakeman officiating crew 2024 statistics

Blakeman's crew threw more flags per game in 2024 (18.06) than any other NFL officiating crew, according to NFLpenalties.com.

Breaking that down further, Blakeman and his team flagged the home team (8.38 flags per game) more often than they did the away team (7.38 per game), though not by much.

It's also worth noting that Blakeman's crew, who are officiating the AFC championship, Shawn Hochuli's crew, who are officiating the NFC championship and Ron Torbert's crew, who are officiating Super Bowl 59, are three of the four crews that have thrown the most flags per game this year.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: AFC championship game referees: Chiefs vs. Bills officiating crew