Brad Rogers will referee Sunday’s Jets–Lions game at Ford Field (1 p.m. ET), according to Football Zebras’ Week 3 assignments.
Lions fans have seen plenty of Rogers lately. He has worked each of Detroit’s last four regular-season finales: the 20–16 win at Green Bay in January 2023 that knocked the Packers out of the playoffs, home wins over Minnesota in January 2024 and January 2025, and the 19–16 win at Chicago this past January. Detroit is 6–3 in the nine regular-season games Rogers has refereed since his promotion in 2019, and 2–2 at Ford Field.
That record says more about the Lions’ recent rosters than about who held the whistle. It does explain why his voice will sound familiar.
Rogers, No. 126, is in his eighth season as a referee and 10th as an NFL official. 2026 crew roster.
A slightly busier crew, with a specific pattern
Rogers’ 16 regular-season games last year produced 213 accepted penalties for 1,637 yards, or 13.3 per game. The league average across all 17 referee groups was 12.7. That put games assigned to Rogers about 4% above average, sixth-most in the league. Rogers’ 2025 record; league referee totals.
The overall number matters less than the breakdown:
| Accepted foul | Rogers games | Per game | League per game | vs. league |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| False start | 48 | 3.00 | 2.42 | +24% |
| Offensive holding | 39 | 2.44 | 2.47 | −1% |
| Defensive pass interference | 13 | 0.81 | 1.03 | −21% |
| Defensive holding | 15 | 0.94 | 0.65 | +43% |
| Illegal contact | 3 | 0.19 | 0.35 | −46% |
| Roughing the passer | 4 | 0.25 | 0.34 | −26% |
| Unnecessary roughness | 14 | 0.88 | 0.64 | +36% |
False starts turned up 24% more often per game than the league rate, and defensive holding 43% more often. Defensive pass interference ran 21% below the league rate; illegal contact was nearly half as frequent. Offensive holding was almost level with the league.
The category rates point in different directions. They give us something specific to watch without establishing how Sunday’s game will be called.
Sixteen games is a small sample for any one foul. These are calls per game, not per pass or play, and they belong to games assigned to Rogers. Officials at the other positions throw many of the flags.
Rogers and the Lions
| Date | Game | Detroit result | DET penalties | Opponent penalties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 20, 2019 | Vikings at Lions | L 30–42 | 8–67 | 6–60 |
| Sept. 12, 2021 | 49ers at Lions | L 33–41 | 5–45 | 7–79 |
| Nov. 20, 2022 | Lions at Giants | W 31–18 | 5–45 | 8–63 |
| Jan. 8, 2023 | Lions at Packers | W 20–16 | 5–75 | 4–35 |
| Oct. 22, 2023 | Lions at Ravens | L 6–38 | 5–57 | 4–45 |
| Jan. 7, 2024 | Vikings at Lions | W 30–20 | 4–20 | 8–77 |
| Sept. 22, 2024 | Lions at Cardinals | W 20–13 | 9–79 | 4–30 |
| Jan. 5, 2025 | Vikings at Lions | W 31–9 | 8–49 | 6–30 |
| Jan. 4, 2026 | Lions at Bears | W 19–16 | 6–35 | 4–25 |
Penalties are accepted penalties and yards from the final NFL gamebooks.
Across those nine games, Detroit was flagged 55 times for 472 yards, and its opponents 51 times for 444. The Lions won at Arizona in 2024 despite being flagged nine times to the Cardinals’ four.
The most recent game had fewer accepted penalties than Rogers’ 2025 average. Chicago tied it at 16 late in the fourth quarter before Jake Bates won it with a 42-yard field goal at the end. Detroit had six penalties for 35 yards; the Bears had four for 25.
What to watch Sunday
Football Zebras’ 2026 roster lists Rogers and the same six regular on-field partners as last season. Weekly substitutions can change the game-day crew, so the 2025 totals do not describe one fixed group of seven officials.
The two numbers to watch are false starts and defensive holding. If a call swings the game, judge that call on its own, not on last season’s rates.
Assignment checked September 24, 2026, and subject to change before kickoff. The 2025 figures cover accepted penalties in regular-season games assigned to Rogers and all 272 league games; declined, offsetting and postseason penalties are excluded. The Detroit review covers nine 2019–25 regular-season NFL gamebooks listing Rogers as referee. The report offers no finding on officiating accuracy or bias.