The opening game of the 2024 NFL season quickly turned into the ref show. Over the first seven snaps of the game, the Baltimore Ravens drew three flags — all for the same illegal formation penalty.
It wasn’t fatal to Baltimore’s scoring hopes. Lamar Jackson and company still marched 70 yards in 11 plays for Derrick Henry’s first touchdown as a Raven thanks to some timely third down conversions. Even so, it was concerning. None of the Ravens’ lineups looked all that different than a typical offensive setup from 2023.
Even so, they got dinged three times across six plays for not having enough men at the line of scrimmage.
should have been ~30 yards on the DPI. instead, Ronnie Stanley is lined up a yard-plus off the line of scrimmage and gets called for illegal formation, penalties offset pic.twitter.com/F6i8EGozIe
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) September 6, 2024
That’s the third penalty of the drive, offset by pass interference but still costing Baltimore roughly 30 yards of field position. Why? Because left tackle Ronnie Stanley lined up more than a yard behind the line of scrimmage, technically putting him in the backfield.
At least seven players have to be on the line to constitute a legal formation in the NFL. That’s five linemen and any other combination of players. As you can see above, Stanley — and right tackle Patrick Mekari, who drew a flag for the same issue one play earlier — are far enough behind the ball to put their placement in question.
If that seems ticky-tacky, well… it is. But it was also a point of emphasis at this year’s offseason meetings thanks in part to the team on the other side of the ball. Kansas City Chiefs tackle Jawaan Taylor earned criticism — but only three penalty flags out of 20 on the year — for his penchant of lining up deep behind the line in order to give himself a little breathing room against explosive edge rushers. He certainly wasn’t the only offensive lineman to utilize that trick, but his role on a Super Bowl-winning team made him the most prominent.
This was clearly a focus for officials this offseason, even if it wasn’t an official 2024 rule change like altering kickoffs or banning hip-drop tackles. We’ve seen referees ramp up flags early in the season before — for iffy roughing the passer calls or helmet-to-helmet contact, for example — before dialing back the frequency of these penalties. Odds are, that will happen here as well.
Just not before a few more blindside protectors cost their team five yards for lining up just a hair too far back from the ball.
