There was plenty said and written about the performance of the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive line in the days that immediately followed the team’s season-opening 27-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Two of the biggest criticisms: The new-look offensive line struggled to protect quarterback Lamar Jackson, and it committed too many penalties.
Ravens decision-makers disagreed with both assertions and different metrics seemingly suggest they have a point. Ravens coach John Harbaugh spent a chunk of his news conference Monday backing left tackle Ronnie Stanley, who was flagged three times for illegal formation penalties in Week 1, and pushing back on the notion that the offensive line didn’t do its part against the Chiefs.
Another big-time challenge looms on Sunday as the Las Vegas Raiders come to Baltimore with one of the game’s top edge rushers in Maxx Crosby and one of the league’s top interior defensive linemen in Christian Wilkins.
“I’d like to see (the offensive line) be 10 million times better. That’s what I want. But do you think it will be 10 million times better? Is it going to be twice as good?” Harbaugh asked. “The baseline is pretty darn good … in that environment, against that defense.”
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Jackson scrambled early and often against the Chiefs. Running back Derrick Henry averaged 3.5 yards per carry. Chiefs star defensive lineman Chris Jones spent a lot of time harassing Jackson and got through for a strip-sack in the second quarter. There were some problems with the crowd noise late in the game.
Yet, the Ravens expected some issues while playing in a raucous environment and facing a high-quality defense and creative defensive coordinator with an offensive line that featured left guard Andrew Vorhees making his first career start, Daniel Faalele starting at right guard for the first time in his career, and rookie Roger Rosengarten rotating in at tackle with veteran Patrick Mekari.
Generally, team officials felt the group held up reasonably well, particularly in two-minute situations at the end of both halves when the Chiefs didn’t have to worry much about the run. Jackson’s speed and elusiveness were big factors in the Chiefs registering just one sack and one quarterback hit.
Still, in pass-blocking win rate, ESPN had the Ravens second overall compared to 22nd in run blocking.
There were some breakdowns, and many of them were caused by Jones, who is a handful for any offensive line. But all-in-all, the Ravens’ front held its own, according to Harbaugh. And he insists that he wasn’t at all surprised.
“I’m not too worried about the offensive line, because I know how hard they work and I know how talented they are,” Harbaugh said. “I watch all the other offensive lines in the National Football League, and I think if you applied some of the same standards to the other offensive lines out there, you’d be like, ‘Oh, boy, that’s a tough position to play against these guys.’ So, our offensive line is going to be really good this year. I believe that, and we’re working hard toward that.”
If there was a bigger issue for the group than the spotty run blocking, it was the penalties. There was a holding call on center Tyler Linderbaum that erased a long late third-quarter run by Jackson, and then there were the much-discussed five illegal formation calls. Stanley was called for three of them, becoming the reluctant face of the NFL’s attempted crackdown on the infraction this season.
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Why were the Ravens flagged for illegal formation so many times?
A frustrated Stanley, who was flagged twice within the first seven plays, said after the game that he felt Shawn Hochuli’s officiating crew was making an example out of him. He questioned why Kansas City’s tackles weren’t scrutinized like he was.
By rule, the other linemen’s helmets are required to be on line with the center’s waist for the alignment to be legal.
“When you watch the tape, I believe what he said bears out,” Harbaugh said. “I’m not worried about it going forward. I thought Ronnie was in reasonable position there, most all the time.”
Harbaugh, in fact, said he’s sure that Stanley was lined up correctly because the team reviewed the tracking data that it gets due to players wearing chips in their shoulder pads. Harbaugh said the data showed exactly where the Ravens tackles were lining up and where the Chiefs tackles were lining up.
Harbaugh didn’t provide the specific data, but in saying that what Stanley said “bears out,” the Ravens head coach is seemingly suggesting the data reflected an inconsistency with how the penalty was being called last Thursday night.
Per information supplied by TruMedia, Stanley lined up with similar depth on a number of other snaps and was not penalized for illegal formation. It also showed that Stanley, who claimed that Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor was consistently further back than he was, had a point.
Taylor, per the data, was in the top five among NFL tackles in Week 1 in terms of average depth of alignment. Stanley, meanwhile, was in the middle of the pack, yet he was the league’s only tackle flagged for multiple illegal formation penalties in Week 1.
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Stanley’s frustration was partly with the fact that he understood that alignment was a point of emphasis with the NFL heading into this season. That was made clear when head NFL official Clete Blakeman and a crew spent time with the Ravens during training camp. Stanley contended that the way Thursday’s game was officiated was not consistent with what Blakeman’s crew had told the team’s offensive linemen and how they officiated the practices they were a part of.
If Stanley spent the team’s weekend watching other games, he probably didn’t receive much solace. Overall, there were 22 illegal formation flags thrown in 16 games in Week 1. Seven of them were on kickoffs or punts. So of the 15 illegal formation calls thrown against offensive players, five of them were against Baltimore. Chiefs coach Andy Reid joked after Thursday’s game about the illegal formation penalties, saying he was glad his team started on defense so the officiating crew “could get their point across.”
The shame of the flags for Stanley were that they marred what was an otherwise strong performance from the 30-year-old offensive tackle who is trying to bounce back from injuries and a poor 2023 season.
“I felt very happy and proud as well, the effort, the confidence, the enthusiasm I was playing with,” Stanley said. “Trying to lead the guys and make every drive our best drive and really push to make us believe. I always have an emphasis on that. I want guys to believe and have confidence in themselves. I thought it was a good game. Very happy that I came out and played the way I did, but I know I could play even better. That’s what I’m going to do.”
GO DEEPER
The first look at Lamar Jackson and the Ravens’ 2024 offense felt incomplete
It certainly won’t get any easier. Crosby totaled 27 sacks over the previous two seasons and had one in the Raiders’ Week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. He often lines up across from the right tackle, but Stanley could see him at some point.
Either way, a scrutinized offensive line will be tested again this week in a game the Ravens can’t afford to lose.
“I’m not going to sit here and doubt those guys,” Harbaugh said. “I’m going to coach those guys, and those guys are going to get out there and play. I think by the end of the season, you’re going to feel really good about our offensive line.”
(Photo: Aaron M. Sprecher / Associated Press)
