A call by replay officials on the final play of the game took a Ravens touchdown off the board, but calls by officials on the field earlier in the game drew a lot of attention from Baltimore as well.
Left tackle Ronnie Stanley was called for three illegal formation penalties and right tackle Patrick Mekari was called for it once, which wasn’t a huge shock given that officials told teams that the call would be a point of emphasis this season. The Chiefs were not flagged for the infraction at any point in their 27-20 win, however, and Stanley took issue with what he felt was a singular focus on how he was lining up.
Stanley said he plans to ask the league to review the calls because he knows “my helmet was breaking the center’s butt” and that he was “lining up more in front of what I used to do” because of the emphasis on the call.
“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,” Stanley said, via the team’s website. “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.”
Two of the calls came on the Ravens’ opening drive. That possession ended with a touchdown, but Stanley said the calls “hindered” the offense and it will be interesting to see if other teams get hamstrung by a flurry of flags as the opening weekend plays out.
