The Baltimore Ravens believe they weren't given enough notice when the New England Patriots used some unconventional substitution methods and formations Saturday night. An NFL spokesman told ESPN that the substitutions were legal from a formation and reporting standpoint, but the amount of notice given is still under investigation, according to NFL.com.
NFL says Patriots used legal substitutions against Ravens
The league says the formations were legal, but the amount of notice the Ravens received is still under review.
The formations featured four offensive linemen alongside a normally eligible receiver -- in this case, running back Shane Vereen -- who was lined up as ineligible. Vereen informed the referee before the snap that he was an ineligible receiver, but the Ravens complained that they weren't given sufficient notice by the officials, allowing them almost no time to adjust.
Trickery explained
Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh believed these formations and substitution patterns were deceptive and provided New England with an unfair advantage, per ESPN:
”What [the Patriots] were doing was they announce the ineligible player and then Tom [Brady] would take them to the line right away and snap the ball before we had a chance to figure out who was lined up where, Harbaugh said. “That was the deception part of it. It was clearly deception.”
Bill Belichick knew it was legal and could keep Baltimore off balance.
“It’s a play that we thought would work,” Belichick said. “We ran it three times, a couple different looks. We had six eligible receivers on the field, but only five were eligible. The one who was ineligible reported that he was ineligible. No different than on the punt team or a situation like that.”
The Patriots didn't start using those formations until the third quarter when they were trailing 28-14. The drive ended with a 5-yard touchdown from Tom Brady to Rob Gronkowski. They outscored the Ravens 21-3 the rest of the way, winning 35-31.
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