Week 8 Officiating: Meet Craig Wrolstad and Crew
Name: Craig Wrolstad
Age: 61
Promoted To Referee: 2014
Last Game: 10/25/26 DEN@ARZ
The Denver Broncos committed 11 penalties for 114 yards. They were flagged a total of 14 times.
The Arizona Cardinals committed 9 penalties for 59 yards. They were flagged a total of 9 times.
Together there were 20 penalties for 173 yards. There were 23 total flags in this game.
Last Lions Game: 11/23/25 – NYG 27 @ DET 34
The New York Giants committed 7 penalties for 59 yards. They were flagged a total of 8 times.
The Detroit Lions committed 9 penalties for 81 yards. They were flagged a total of 10 times.
Together there were 16 penalties for 140 yards. There were 18 total flags in this game.
Wrolstad's crew also officiated the Lions loss at KC on 10/12/25 where they only threw 4 flags on the Lions and 0 on KC, leading the Branch getting frustrated and suspended for punching Smith-Schuster
Notable
This is the game where something will have to give. Wrolstad's crew is second most penalty-happy in the league in most major penalty categories, while both the Lions (6th) and Vikings (1st) are two of the least penalized teams in the NFL. This is a sharp departure from last season, where they were 11th most per crew averaging 14 flags a game, while this year they are throwing 20.67 per game, and increase of almost 7 penalties per game. Even worse, this was the crew that flagged the Chiefs 0 times when the Lions played in KC last season (Lions only had 4 flags) that lead to Branch ultimately getting suspended for a game.
Comparing the Lions and Vikings, they both are among the least penalized teams, but they do align with Wrolstad's Crews tendencies, including False Start, Delay of Game and Offensive Holding for both teams. the Lions also align on DPI, but have gotten better lately, so hopefully this does not resurface Sunday. The flags go both ways, with the Home and way teams each averaging about nine flags per game, so expect a balanced, but potentially active, officiated game.
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