Illegal formation penalties were a common occurrence during Thursday's 2024 NFL opener between the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs. And the Ravens aren't exactly thrilled about it, suggesting after their narrow 27-20 defeat that officials were overly critical of their alignments.
"Whatever calls they made, it's their decision," left tackle Ronnie Stanley told reporters Thursday night, after he drew four different flags for the infraction against Kansas City. "But it didn't feel consistent with what we were told" in the lead-up to the 2024 season.
"I'll challenge them to call it the same way they called it tonight the whole season," Ravens coach Jon Harbaugh added. "Hopefully they'll be consistent."
The NFL often has a point of emphasis when it comes to officiating each year. This year, as reported by Football Zebras and confirmed by Harbaugh after the game, the focus is properly enforcing illegal formation, which penalizes teams who do not properly align seven different offensive players along the line of scrimmage at the start of a play. Stanley, in particular, was a repeat victim of the crackdown Thursday, allegedly lining up too far behind the line to get a head start on Chiefs pass rushers.
The same infraction also cost Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor in Week 1 of the 2023 campaign, when officials sought to cut down on offensive linemen pushing the limits of pre-snap alignment.
