Among the storylines in Thursday night’s game between the Ravens and Chiefs was four illegal formation penalties called on the Ravens over the course of the game.
Three of them were on left tackle Ronnie Stanley, who said after the game that he felt officials were trying to make an example out of him to emphasize a crackdown on the calls. Stanley also said that he didn’t feel the calls were being made evenly, but the flurry of flags caught the eye of coaches who are preparing to play this weekend and want to make sure that their team doesn’t wind up picking up a slew of penalties.
“We talked about it in practice,” Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo said during his Friday press conference, via a transcript from the team. “I had two guys on both sides of the line of scrimmage making sure those guys were lined up correctly. Once again, we always talk about we’ll do business as business is being done. So, we’ll see what this crew has for us this week.”
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski also touched on the subject Friday. He said, via the team’s radio announcer Andrew Siciliano, that “when the league wants something emphasized, you better adjust” and similar messages will likely be shared around the league heading into Sunday.