NFL referees made an emphasis during the preseason to call illegal formation penalties on offensive linemen, and many teams, including the New England Patriots, were flagged a bunch of times as a result.
Well, that emphasis didn't decrease during Thursday's regular season opener between the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Ravens offensive line was penalized for an illegal formation three times on their first drive of the game. In total, the Ravens were penalized four times for illegal formation, and two of them were accepted. For comparison, the Ravens were called for that penalty only one time all of last season.
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Patriots offensive tackle Chukwuma Okorafor was penalized for illegal formation three times in the preseason finale versus the Washington Commanders. Coincidentally, referee Shawn Hochuli was working both that Patriots-Commanders game and Ravens-Chiefs.
How are the Patriots trying to prevent taking these penalties in Week 1 against the Cincinnati Bengals?
"We talked about it in practice," head coach Jerod Mayo told reporters Friday morning. "I had two guys on both sides of the line of scrimmage making sure those guys were lined up correctly."
The Patriots offense is not expected to be a high-scoring unit this season, which would make easily preventable penalties like illegal formation even more of a setback if called.
If the Patriots are going to have any chance at upsetting the Bengals on the road -- most sportsbooks have Cincy favored by more than seven points -- they can't have self-inflicted mistakes like penalties. New England's margin for error, especially against high-quality opponents, is razor thin.
