OWINGS MILLS — Ravens coach John Harbaugh expected some hiccups with the offensive line.
The team has three new starters and the players will need time to get comfortable lining up next to one another. There were some issues in the Week 1 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, mainly with illegal formations and pass blocking.
However, Harbaugh was encouraged by the offensive line’s overall performance and is confident the players will get better in the coming weeks.
“The offensive line I thought did a heck of a job out there,” Harbaugh said. “[There were] a lot of question marks the pundits and the prognosticators had about the offensive line, saying that with that offensive line we couldn’t do anything. To see the way they went out there and played against that defense I thought was pretty impressive, and that’s a challenge, especially in this environment [with] communication.”
Ravens left tackle Ronnie Stanley was flagged four times for illegal formation in the first half. Right tackle Patrick Mekari was penalized once for the same infraction.
After the game, Stanlety disputed those calls by the officials. The illegal formation designates that a team has failed to properly align with seven players on the line of scrimmage at the start
“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,” Stanley said. “As far as I saw, they weren’t doing it on both sides of the ball. I know that I was lined up in good position a majority of those calls they made.
“They just kept saying, ‘You need to move up.’ I was like, ‘How much more do I need to move up?'” Stanley said. “It’s not my first year playing in this league. I know where to line up. I was lining up a lot ahead of what I usually do. I know my helmet was breaking the center’s butt.”
In addition to the penalties, rookie tackle Roger Rosengarten was beaten badly by defensive tackle Chris Jones, who had a strip sack on quarterback Lamar Jackson that led to a Chiefs field goal. Guards Andrew Vorhees and Daniel Faalele had some struggles in pass coverage and creating lanes for running back Derrick Henry, who had 46 yards rushing on 13 carries with a touchdown.
Jackon was especially upset by the penalties, and it’s an area the Ravens will need to improve moving forward.
“It’s like, every time we had a big play, there was a flag down,” Jackson said. “We can’t be having that. We’re going to watch film and see if we can clean those things up. I believe that we have the best fan base in the NFL, and they want to see that. They want to see that from us. The guys that we got, the new additions – Derrick Henry and the new offensive linemen – [the fans] just want to see us do what we do.”
