Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs hosted Lamar Jackson and the Ravens on TNF to start the 2024 NFL season. Baltimore started with the football and the game was immediately slowed down by penalties. Despite scoring a touchdown on their opening drive, three penalties were called in the Ravens’ first seven plays.
Two of those three penalties on the opening drive were called against the Ravens’ starting tackles. One against Ronnie Stanley and one for Patrick Mekari. The penalties being called against the Ravens were for illegal formation. After the game, head coach John Harbaugh said the league informed teams this penalty would be emphasized. That was apparent in the first game of the season when Ronnie Stanley had an illegal formation penalty called against him three times. The veteran LT voiced his frustration after the 27-20 loss to Kansas City.
The Ravens will have to adjust in Week 2 to avoid illegal formation penalties
#Ravens LT Ronnie Stanley believes the league singled him out with the illegal formation penalties last night and says it wasn’t called evenly for both teams.
“The way it was going through the game, I really feel like they were trying to make an example and chose me to be the… pic.twitter.com/SkLY91hiht
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 6, 2024
In their loss to the Chiefs on TNF, the Ravens were flagged five times for illegal formation. That penalty wasn’t called once against Kansas City. The illegal formation was called three times on Ravens LT Ronnie Stanley. Last season, Stanley was flagged 11 times but not once for illegal formation. Additionally, Stanley was flagged on the second play of the game for that penalty. The 30-year-old felt like the league was trying to make an example out of him. During and after the game, there was plenty of discourse online about the lopsided penalties in the season opener.
During the game, NBC sports broadcaster Cris Collinsworth made comments about how “razor sharp” the league was calling illegal formation penalties. Last season, the Chiefs were in a similar spot when RT Juwaan Taylor was flagged five times for being lined up too far on the line of scrimmage. In the loss to the Chiefs, it was Ravens LT Ronnie Stanely who was flagged three times. There is a game tonight in Brazil where the Packers and Eagles will face off. We’ll have to see how many illegal formation penalties were called or if Ronnie Stanley was truly signed out in the first game of the season.
