The NFL continues to crack down on illegal formations.
The Baltimore Ravens learned the hard way on Thursday night.
The Ravens were flagged for three illegal formation penalties on the first series of the NFL season in Thursday’s 27-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Left tackle Ronnie Stanley was flagged twice on the series. Right tackle Patrick Mekari was flagged once.
Before the night was over, Baltimore was assessed five illegal formation penalties. Four of them were accepted by the Chiefs.
Penalties on the opening drive didn’t cost Baltimore anything. The Ravens overcame the penalties to cap the drive with a Derrick Henry touchdown run.
Fourth penalty costs Ravens potential points
A fourth illegal formation foul proved costly. Stanley was penalized again late in the second quarter. This time, the foul stopped a potential scoring drive. It negated a nine-yard pass gain on second-and-12 at the Kansas City 39-yard line.
With the penalty, Baltimore found itself on second-and-17 and failed to get another first down on the drive. The drive ended with a missed 53-yard field goal attempt by Justin Tucker.
What about all the sanctions?
So why exactly did the Ravens get so many flags? Suppression has reportedly been a point of emphasis for referees since last season, coincidentally thanks in part to Baltimore’s opponent on Thursday night.
Referees came under frequent criticism last season for failing to penalize Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor when he repeatedly lined up too far behind the line of scrimmage. Offensive linemen must line up on the line of scrimmage to avoid gaining an unfair advantage against defenders. That criticism reportedly led the referees to making it a point of emphasis to put an end to illegal formations.
And what does that offense consist of? Very similar to Thursday’s game between the Ravens and the Chiefs.
This is one of the fouls that led to a penalty against Stanley in the first quarter. His formation was not blatantly illegal like some of the ones that were committed. Taylor got away with it last season.
The Ravens were called for illegal formation three times in the first series (twice for Ronnie Stanley) of the 2024 NFL season.
“Wow! I mean, they call it razor sharp here.” – Cris Collinsworth image.twitter.com/TecSqGP9nQ
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But according to Thursday’s refereeing team, it met the definition of illegal formation.
This is what The regulation says:
The offensive team must comply with the following at the time of the snap:
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(a) You must have seven or more players on the line.
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Eligible receivers must be on both ends of the line, and all players on the line between them must be ineligible receivers.
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No player can be out of bounds
Penalty: For illegal formation by the offense: Loss of five yards.
Point number 1 is what’s at stake here. Seven or more players must be lined up on the line of scrimmage. Stanley is supposed to be one of those seven players in the above scenario. In practice, that means Stanley’s helmet must be in line with center Tyler Linderbaum’s waistline.
Stanley’s feet appear to be in the right place. Had he leaned forward like some of his colleagues on the offensive line, his helmet probably would have lined up with Linderbaum’s belt. But he was standing and got penalized.
And he was singled out again along with his teammates.
The penalties were often extreme and affected the pace of the game, but that’s what the NFL is emphasizing and it may be a sign of things to come in the 2024 season.
