Ravens Embarrassing Themselves as Excuses Pile Up for Loss to Chiefs
By Cem Yolbulan
The NFL season is finally here and the opening night matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens offered plenty of high-level football and drama. The Chiefs handled the Ravens once again, making it six wins out of their last seven against their AFC rivals.
After the game, there were plenty of salty Ravens players. Tight end Isaiah Likely and LB Roquan Smith were in the spotlight after their incendiary comments following the loss. The rivalry will produce intense battles and drama as these two teams continue to challenge each other for the AFC title. However, the Ravens have to stop coming up with excuses to explain their losses.
Another Ravens player who blamed external factors rather than his own mistakes was left tackle Ronnie Stanley. The veteran offensive lineman, who was flagged four times in the first half for illegal formation, said the referees were intentionally targeting him to make an example out of him. The 30-year-old made the ridiculous claim that the same infraction wasn't being called on the Chiefs.
NFL News: Ravens OL Blames Referees For His Penalties
#Ravens LT Ronnie Stanley believes the league singled him out with the illegal formation penalties last night and says it wasn’t called evenly for both teams.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 6, 2024
“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… pic.twitter.com/SkLY91hiht
In Stanley's defense, the referees were clearly trying to make a point by calling every infraction on the line of scrimmage. However, that doesn't mean that those calls were incorrect. In a lot of possessions, Stanley was taking an extra step back to give himself an advantage against pass rushers, while he had to have his helmet at the waist of the center to be considered a legal formation.
The Chiefs fans are familiar with this as a similar issue became a topic of conversation with right tackle Jawaan Taylor in last season's opener against the Lions. There was criticism about that infraction not being called consistently enough last year that the NFL made it a point of emphasis to start the 2024 season.
Instead of taking responsibility for costing his team valuable yards on so many possessions, Stanley decided to blame the referees instead. Regardless, the Chiefs came away with the win and continue to enjoy their dominance against the Ravens.
More Chiefs news and rumors:
feed