The NFL continues to take tough action against illegal lineups.

The Baltimore Ravens learned this the hard way on Thursday night.

The Ravens were penalized three times for formation violations on their NFL season-opening drive in Thursday’s 27-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Left tackle Ronnie Stanley was penalized twice during the drive. Right tackle Patrick Mekari was penalized once.

Before the night was over, Baltimore had been assessed a total of five illegal formation penalties, four of which were accepted by the Chiefs.

The opening drive penalties cost Baltimore nothing, as the Ravens overcame the flags to cap the drive with a touchdown run by Derrick Henry.

Fourth penalty costs Ravens potential points

A fourth illegal formation penalty proved costly. Stanley was flagged again late in the second quarter. This time, the penalty blocked a potential scoring drive. It wiped out a 9-yard passing gain on second-and-12 at the Kansas City 39-yard line.

The penalty put Baltimore on second-and-17 and it didn’t get a first down on the drive, which ended with a missed 53-yard field goal attempt by Justin Tucker.

What’s with all the punishments?

So why exactly did the Ravens fly so many flags? The repression has reportedly been a focus for officials since last season — coincidentally, thanks in part to Baltimore’s opponent on Thursday night.

Last season, officials were frequently criticized for not penalizing Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor when he repeatedly found himself far behind the line of scrimmage. Offensive linemen are required to line up on the line of scrimmage to avoid gaining an unfair advantage over defenders. That criticism reportedly led officials to make it a point to address illegal formations.

What does that repression look like? A bit like Thursday’s Ravens-Chiefs game.

Here’s one of the penalties that resulted in a flag on Stanley in the first quarter. His formation wasn’t outright illegal like some of the ones Taylor got away with last season.

But according to Thursday’s referees, this met the definition of an illegal formation.

This is what it says in the rulebook:

The offensive team must adhere to the following at the snap:

1. (a) There must be seven or more players on the line

2. Eligible receivers must be on both ends of the line, and all players on the line between them must be ineligible receivers.

3. No player may be outside the lines

Penalty: In case of an illegal formation due to the violation: loss of five yards.

Bullet point No. 1 is at play here. Seven or more players must be on the line of scrimmage. Stanley would have to be one of those seven players in the above scenario. In practice, this means that Stanley’s helmet must be in line with center Tyler Linderbaum’s belt line.

Stanley’s feet appear to be in the right place. If he had leaned forward like some of his fellow offensive linemen, his helmet would probably have been in line with Linderbaum’s belt. But he stood up straight and he got a flag.

And he was flagged off again, along with his teammates.

The penalties were often borderline egregious and disruptive to the flow of the game. But that’s what the NFL is emphasizing. And it could be a harbinger of things to come for the 2024 season.