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If you weren’t watching Thursday night’s 2024 NFL season-opener between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens, you missed one of the greatest opening games in NFL history.
But before Isaiah Likely’s would-be game-winning catch was ruled incomplete by a matter of inches, the game got off to a bizarre start. Officials called the Ravens for not one, not two, but three illegal formation penalties on their opening drive.
Fans, players and broadcasters were all flummoxed by the sudden point of emphasis by the referees. But now we have a bit of clarification thanks to Jason Kelce.
Quoting this so more people see it.
The tackle jumping the count thing is never gonna stop man. I get that a lot of these are false starts in slow motion, but in real time it all happens so fast, I think people don’t understand how hard it is for the official to really know if… https://t.co/TRFq3LPq5n pic.twitter.com/dgjuRNTmbt
— Jason Kelce (@JasonKelce) September 6, 2024
Jason Kelce Calls Out Point Of Emphasis On Illegal Formation Penalties
Kelce dove into the calls on Twitter while also explaining why offensive tackles aren’t called for false stars despite starting before the ball is snapped.
“The tackle jumping the count thing is never gonna stop man. I get that a lot of these are false starts in slow motion, but in real time it all happens so fast, I think people don’t understand how hard it is for the official to really know if he left before the ball live from the sideline,” Kelce began.
He then switched his attention to the illegal formation calls.
“(I) Certainly get the frustration people have that Ronnie got called for a lot of frivolous stuff early, and the Chiefs didn’t. It’s one of the reasons I’m not a fan of the points of emphasis that these refs have to start seasons. It often leads to officials looking to make calls, and a lot of borderline or bad calls end up happening as a result.
“…I think Ronnie’s posture being so upright made it look worse than it actually was, especially the third one. In real time on TV I thought he was clearly off again, but on further review he is much closer to the line, and in an area they usually don’t call it. In the last one his feet are even with the Guards but he’s so upright his helmet looks much further back than the rest of the line.”
Stanley said afterward that he felt unfairly targeted. But it appears he may well have been to blame. Either way, it could be a tough opening week for offensive linemen across the NFL.