Following the Ravens' AFC divisional-round playoff defeat in January, the NFL outlawed a strategy employed by the New England Patriots that created confusion about which receivers were eligible and ineligible.
Although the NFL later approved a competition committee proposal in March that makes it illegal going forward for players with an ineligible number to line up outside of the tackle box, the Ravens are staying ready just in case the situation arises again.
During the minicamp in June, the Ravens defense practiced against some illegal formations to be ready.
"We're working on formations, legal formations, illegal formations, unexpected formations," coach John Harbaugh said as the Ravens closed out their offseason practices in June. "The first time we ran it, you heard [outside linebacker Terrell] Suggs out there saying, 'That's not legal, that's not legal.'
"We will not assume that the referees are going to understand or always get it right when a formation goes out on the field. So, we're working on everything."
A five-yard illegal substitution penalty will now be assessed for an offensive player with an eligible number between 1 and 49 and 80 to 89 who reports as ineligible and lines up outside the tackle box.
After the 35-31 loss at Gillette Stadium, Harbaugh took issue with the Patriots' tactics and the referees' response and not giving his players enough time to substitute.
During the game, running back Shane Vereen declared himself as ineligible right before the snap. Vereen would line up as ineligible on the line while tight end Michael Hoomanawanui lined up at left tackle and caught a pass. Harbaugh intentionally went on the field and drew a 15-yard penalty to talk to officials to take issue with the Patriots' tactic.
"The officials told me after that they would give us the opportunity to do that, which they probably should have done during that series, but they really didn't understand what was happening," Harbaugh said after the game "I had to go take the penalty to get their attention so they can understand what was going on."
The Patriots drove for a touchdown and cut the Ravens' 14-point lead to a touchdown before eventually winning the game to advance to the AFC championship and later winning the Super Bowl.
"We wanted an opportunity to be able to identify who the eligible players were because what they were doing was they would announce the eligible player and [Patriots quarterback] Tom [Brady] would take it to the line right away and snap the ball before [we] even figured out who was lined up where," Harbaugh said. "And that was the deception part of it. It was clearly deception."
awilson@baltsun.com
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