Baltimore Ravens left tackle Ronnie Stanley was not happy with the referees after Thursday night’s opening game against the Kansas City Chiefs, as he felt he was made an example of with the multiple illegal formation calls.
The Ravens kicked off their season with a 27-20 loss to the Chiefs that came down to Isaiah Likely’s toe being on the line when he caught what would have been a game-tying touchdown pass as the clock expired.
Given the single-TD loss, Baltimore could have done without some of the penalties. Stanley, in particular, was called for three of his team’s four illegal formation penalties. The Chiefs weren’t called for said violation, though he feels they were also lining up wrongly.
“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 one to do that,” Ravens reporter Ryan Mink quoted him as saying after the game. “As far as I saw, they weren’t doing it on both sides of the ball. I know that I was lined up in good position a majority of those calls they made.”
Ronnie Stanley didn’t feel the officiating was consistent tonight, especially in application of illegal-formation calls. pic.twitter.com/RZIJxuQ5JD
— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) September 6, 2024
Ronnie Stanley Knows How To Line Up
Ronnie Stanley said officials kept telling him he needed to move toward the line of scrimmage when he new he was fine.
“They just kept saying, ‘You need to move up.’ I was like, ‘How much more do I need to move up?’” he remarked. “It’s not my first year playing in this league. I know where to line up. I was lining up a lot ahead of what I usually do. I know my helmet was breaking the center’s butt.”
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh also complained about the calls and said he would monitor how that particular penalty is called around the NFL this season.
“It’ll be interesting to see if they call it the same way the whole season,” he said. “I’ll challenge them to call it the same way they called it tonight the whole season, so hopefully they’ll be consistent about that.”
