Former NFL offensive lineman Jason Kelce, like many others watching Thursday night's game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens, was left reacting to the flurry of penalties called early in the contest, particularly on the Ravens.
“Man they are not messing around with these tackles alignments, Kelce shared on X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter).” And to be fair, [Ronnie] Stanley is still to far back!”
During the first seven plays of the Chiefs-Ravens game, Baltimore got called for a total of seven penalties. Stanley got slapped with two illegal formation calls while Patrick Mekari also got called for it.
Kelce also alluded to what happened in the 2023 NFL opener when Kansas City offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor got away with the same calls that Stanley and the Ravens got hit early in the Chiefs-Ravens showdown.
Fans react to refs' tight calling early in Chiefs-Ravens

“I haven’t seen this many flags in a row since Jawaan Taylor last year,” Kelce added.
Not everyone was happy with how seemingly tight the refs were calling the penalties.
“Glad we get to watch the refs tonight,” a sarcastic @BarstoolBigCat said.
Article Continues Below“Do we stop watching now or is it the refs the whole game we think,” said @zachlanebryan.
“Welcome to the ref show,” chimed in @danfetes. “The NFL is back baby.”
From @JPFinlayNBCS: “I was really hoping the league would crack down on illegal formation. Kept me up at night.”
Via @scarpizio: “11:49 left in the first quarter of the first game and we already have ref show!”
Kelce, of course, is also paying close attention to the Chiefs-Ravens game because his brother, Kansas City star tight end Travis Kelce, is out there trying to help the reigning Super Bowl champions repulse Lamar Jackson and the rest of the Baltimore squad in a rematch of last season's AFC championship game.
A six-time First-team All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler, Jason retired from the NFL last March after 13 years in the pros — all with the Philadelphia Eagles. Jason entered the NFL in 2011 as a sixth-round pick (191st overall) by the Eagles.