One Kansas City Chiefs player could be in for an unfortunate case of déjà vu during Week 1's tilt against the Baltimore Ravens.
Last season, Chiefs RT Jawaan Taylor was at the center of a massive officiating controversy surrounding illegal formation penalties. After a Week 1 game in which Taylor was called out on national TV by broadcaster Cris Collinsworth, the NFL cracked down on illegal formation penalties. They sent out a weekly point-of-emphasis tape to all 32 NFL teams that highlighted Taylor and other illegal formation penalties. By Week 3, Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid were calling out the NFL for picking on Taylor. By the end of the 2024 NFL season, he led the NFL with 20 total penalties, including a league-leading three illegal formation penalties.
So why does this matter heading into Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season? Seventh-year NFL referee Shawn Hochuli and his crew have been assigned as the officials for the Chiefs’ Week 1 season-opening game against the Baltimore Ravens. Hochuli had a situation occur just weeks ago where he went viral for his enforcement of the very penalty that haunted Taylor in 2023.
Shawn Hochuli went viral during the preseason for his enforcement of illegal formation penalties
In the preseason Week 3 game between the New England Patriots and Washington Commanders, Hochuli was all about calling illegal formation penalties. He even went viral for a sassy illegal formation penalty call. The penalty wiped out a touchdown pass from Drake Maye to KJ Osborn.
"Illegal formation, once again, left tackle No. 77 was lined up in the backfield."
Boston Globe reporter Doug Kyed had the following to say at halftime.
"I don't want to make any excuses for the Patriots' OL, because it's been awful, but ref Shawn Hochuli loves himself some airtime, and it seems like he's really driving a point home with these illegal formation penalties."
In the first half alone, LT Chukwuma Okorafor and RT Mike Onwenu were called for four combined illegal formation penalties. It appeared as if he was hyper-focused on calling those penalties with the regular season around the corner. Why might that be? Hochuli's crew called a single illegal formation penalty during the 2023 NFL season. It was offset by another penalty on the defense. It seems that once again, the NFL is emphasizing these illegal formation penalties with offensive linemen being set too far back.
Will Jawaan Taylor be prepared for this situation in Week 1 vs. the Ravens?
Taylor has been hard at work this offseason, seeking to rectify what was a major problem a season ago. He spoke to reporters during training camp about how he's sought to get better during training camp and the preseason.
“Yeah, I've been mainly working on like bettering myself with penalties and stuff like that, making sure I’m up on the ball and different things like that," Taylor said. "But other than that, just doing my part (and) helping the team win games.”
Taylor appeared in just six offensive snaps this preseason before a shoulder injury kept him out of the final two games. He's not had much in-game practice to this point, even if he has been getting the work in this offseason to correct these mistakes.
“He’s working hard," Chiefs HC Andy Reid said during training camp. "I think he settled down in that last quarter of (last) season there. As far as the penalties go, he started out like he did (in) the first game, and he got away with a couple things as far as being deep and then he got nailed for it after that, so that’s how that goes. I think he learned a good lesson last year, and it looked like he finished strong so that was a positive – (He’s) picking up in a good spot with the OTAs and these practices we’ve had up here (in St. Joe).”
The trick is to not let things snowball as they clearly did last season, to the point where the team felt Taylor was being unfairly officiated compared to even other players on the team. Ultimately, the Chiefs are hoping to turn the page on those penalty issues that occurred with Taylor and start with a clean slate in 2024.
“It was something where – for us, we knew that there was the issue with JT (Jawaan Taylor) with some of the false starts and the alignments, and it became a big deal," Chiefs OC Matt Nagy said during training camp. "(The) penalties that you have set you back, so you’re looking at second-and-long (and) you’re looking at first-and-long. You’re looking at creating a first down on third down or a big play in the red zone, and now all of a sudden, you’ve got to reset and do it again. Our guys are aware of that, but we don’t – I think going into a new season, it is just that, it’s a new season. We make sure that we focus in and lock in on the fundamentals of being smart and staying away from penalties. They’re going to happen, but it can’t be repetitive like they were last year. We’ve got to stay away from that. If we do that, (and) we stay positive with the yards, we think we can be pretty good on offense.”
Related: Chiefs Injury Report: A single player is slated to miss Week 1 game vs. Ravens for Kansas City
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