Ravens' illegal formation penalties: Are they a sign of things to come this NFL season?

Jason Owens

The NFL is continuing to crack down on illegal formations.

The Baltimore Ravens learned the hard way Thursday night.

The Ravens were flagged for three illegal formation penalties on the opening drive of the NFL season in Thursday's 27-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Left tackle Ronnie Stanley was flagged twice on the drive. Right tackle Patrick Mekari got dinged once.

Before the night was over, Baltimore drew five total illegal formation penalties. Four of them were accepted by the Chiefs.

The opening-drive penalties didn't cost Baltimore. The Ravens overcame the flags to cap the drive with a Derrick Henry touchdown run.

A fourth illegal formation penalty did prove costly. Stanley was flagged again late in the second quarter. This time, the penalty stalled a potential scoring drive. It negated a 9-yard passing gain on second-and-12 at the Kansas City 39-yard line.

With the penalty, Baltimore found itself in second-and-17 and didn't gain another first down on the drive. The drive ended with a missed 53-yard field goal attempt by Justin Tucker.

So why exactly were the Ravens drawing so many flags? The crackdown has reportedly been a point of emphasis for officials since last season — coincidentally thanks in part to Baltimore's opponent Thursday night.

Officials were the subject of frequent criticism last season for not penalizing Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor when he repeatedly lined up well behind the line of scrimmage. Offensive linemen are required to line up on the line of scrimmage to avoid gaining an unfair leverage advantage against defenders. That criticism reportedly led to officials making it a point of emphasis to crack down on illegal formations.

So what does that crackdown look like? A lot like Thursday's Ravens-Chiefs game.

Here's one of the penalties that led to a flag on Stanley in the first quarter. His formation wasn't blatantly illegal like some of those that Taylor got away with last season.

But, per Thursday's officiating crew, it met the definition of an illegal formation.

Here's what the rulebook says:

The offensive team must be in compliance with the following at the snap:

  1. (a) It must have seven or more players on the line

  2. Eligible receivers must be on both ends of the line, and all of the players on the line between them must be ineligible receivers

  3. No player may be out of bounds

Penalty: For illegal formation by the offense: Loss of five yards.

Bullet point No. 1 is what's in play 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 that Stanley's helmet must be in line with the belt-line of center Tyler Linderbaum.

Stanley's feet appear to be in the right spot. Had he leaned forward like some of his offensive line counterparts, his helmet would have likely aligned with Linderbaum's belt. But he was standing upright, and he got flagged.

And he got flagged again alongside his teammates.

The penalties were frequently borderline and stunted the flow of the game. But this is what the NFL is emphasizing. And it may be a sign of things to come for the 2024 season.

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