Ravens’ Ronnie Stanley accuses refs of ‘trying to make example’ out of him with controversial calls in loss to Chiefs

BALTIMORE Ravens offensive lineman Ronnie Stanley called out the referees after his team’s brutal 27-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night.

Stanley candidly spoke to reporters after the Baltimore Ravens season-opening loss at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday Night Football.

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The former first-round pick Stanley was hit with three penalties for illegal formation in the NFL contest.

Two of those penalties occurred in the Ravens’ opening drive.

After the game, Stanley shared that he felt singled out by the officiating due to efforts to enforce the particular infraction.

“We knew that they were going to make a new emphasis on the illegal formations,” the 30-year-old said.

“And we were talking to refs in OTAs actually.

“We got pretty good clarification.

“We were doing a good job in OTAs and all of a sudden today, the refs, whatever calls they made, it’s their decision.”

“It didn’t feel consistent with what we were told from the refs earlier on.”

Stanley wasn’t the only Raven to be flagged for illegal formation as Patrick Mekari and Rashod Bateman were also penalized for the infraction.

However, the Chiefs did not get hit with an illegal formation penalty.

Stanley didn’t understand that the calls didn’t go both ways.

“Second play of the game, first pass play of the game,” Stanley said. “No warning before that. I thought it was a little different.

“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.”

Last season, Stanley was flagged 11 times but not once for illegal formation.

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“It’ll be interesting to see if they call it the same way the whole season,” Harbaugh said after the game, via ESPN.

“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.”

Per the league’s rulebook, the offense must check these three guidelines when lining up for the snap.

• It must have seven or more players on the line, who may lock legs.
• Eligible receivers must be on both ends of the line, and all of the players on the line between them must be ineligible receivers.
• No player may be out of bounds.”

The Ravens will play the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 2 next week.