The Ravens’ offensive tackles were flagged for four illegal formation penalties on Thursday night, serving notice to the rest of the league that linemen lining up properly is going to be strictly enforced by NFL officials this season.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said he didn’t watch Thursday night’s game but heard about the penalties and made sure the issue was addressed with his team this morning. Campbell said the Lions were already aware that it had become a point of emphasis and that linemen would get at most one warning before they were flagged, but the penalties against the Ravens made it an issue for the team to address on Friday.
“I made that point this morning because I knew it had come up,” Campbell said on Friday. “They were gonna make a point of that, they’ll warn you once and then that’s it. There are no more. They’ll just start flagging them. So our guys know that and we’ll be ready for it.”
It’s unfortunate for the Ravens that they were the team the officials made an example of, but now every NFL offensive tackle should be well aware that there’s no more cheating back toward the backfield when lining up to pass block. That’s going to get flagged, perhaps multiple times a game.