Tell me you had money on the game without telling me. From what we saw from the referees of last night's Baltimore Ravens vs. Kansas City Chiefs, they spent big at the sportsbook.
In a rematch of last year's AFC Championship game, the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs squared up in Kansas City for the NFL's Week 1 opener. Among the storylines to watch coming into the game, the league emphasized their new illegal formation rules. Over the offseason, all teams were briefed on the changes and knew they'd be applied accordingly.
Little did the fans know that the only calls for illegal formation would go against the Baltimore Ravens.
The referees were garbage in last night's game
On multiple occasions, Chiefs offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor was lined up incorrectly, which should prompt an illegal formation call. He was consistently not on the line of scrimmage and moved before the snap almost every play.
The Ravens were called for illegal formation a resounding four times alone in the first half. The Ravens were visibly frustrated with the calls and they were truly one-sided. The referees blatantly ignored the obvious calls for the Chiefs. It would be one thing if Taylor was being sneaky about it, but time and again he would commit the penalty and it would go uncalled only for it to be scrutinized for the Ravens.
Either make it make sense or call a fair game. It's not too difficult.
They are enforcing illegal formation more this year because the Chiefs’ Jawaan Taylor was deep in the backfield in the first game last year and now it's benefiting the Chiefs this year. Can't make this stuff up pic.twitter.com/eZfOfxFKKf
— Kevin (@KevinCavanaugh7) September 6, 2024
The more egregious non-call came late in the first half. With time winding down the Chiefs' defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo ran down the sideline to call a timeout. Only, he's not allowed to call timeouts, only the head coaches are. It's a penalty for non-head coaches to call timeouts.
Andy Reid is the only person allowed to call a timeout at that moment. So why was there no flag? The most frustrating part of it all is that the Chiefs weren't penalized for the penalty, and they still got the timeout. The refs gave them the timeout. How did the Chiefs get away with this? It's absurd. The Chiefs were getting away with murder last night.
wait, so the Chiefs called a timeout they weren’t legally allowed to call??
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) September 6, 2024
and there is no penalty just keep going? pic.twitter.com/Hgpgd9X9wR
You can watch the play via this link.
The game was called so poorly. The refs didn't seem to care about calling a fair game. Based on their shoddy officiating, they wanted the Chiefs to win. At least they were consistent in calling a tight game against the Ravens and a loose one against the Chiefs. Jokes.
The zebras consistently manage to frustrate fans season after season. However, the abundance of rough calls and harsh decisions at the start of the regular season was unexpected. Hopefully, they’ll improve their game by next week. Otherwise, we're in for a long season.