Officiating slightly taps the brakes on illegal formation enforcement

The 2024 season started with a flurry of illegal formation fouls against the Ravens, with 4 such infractions in the first quarter. Immediately, there was speculation that there were going to be flags all weekend, but other than the Browns having 3 formation fouls, there were only six other teams with 1 nonkickoff formation foul each. So it appear the speculation didn’t quite pan out.

Turns out that the enforcement on the first game of the season was, in fact, a little heavy handed. At least one of the illegal formation fouls in the first quarter was deemed correct but too technical.

Details have emerged that the rule remains the same but officials won’t throw a flag unless the lineman (usually the tackle) is lined up behind the backside of the center. “Clear daylight from the butt of the snapper is a foul,” one official told Football Zebras. Yup, that’s the quote.

Officials and teams were informed before the Week 1 Sunday games about the enforcement tweak. Vice president of officiating Ramon George met with all officials and replay staff in Denver on Friday to go over the new interpretation and other points. The meeting was already on the schedule and was not called specifically to address illegal formation fouls.

The enforcement parameters align with other fouls where there is a means of interpreting compliance in real time. For instance, to determine that a lineman is more than 1 yard downfield on a passing play, officials will look to see the torso of the player breaking the plane of 2 yards downfield. This ensures that the entire lineman’s body is beyond the 1-yard zone, and the official can watch for other fouls instead of focusing on the feet.

This does not mean that the plane of the snapper’s caboose is now the new formation line. Linemen are still expected to be breaking the plane of the snapper’s beltline, and officials will still warn the players when they are slightly off.

This ultimately comes back to straightening up the core of the formation and that players are either clearly on or clearly off the line. We discussed this in this week’s 1st & 25 podcast. For the players outside of the core of the formation, there is a greater distance to the snapper’s wagon, so a clear staggering of the receivers that presents who is on or off the line will be generally accepted. Receivers can, and should, look over to the wing official on every play to ensure they are properly lined up and everything’s peachy.

One other situation where these updated formation rules plus the derrière enforcement discretion might show up is in the 3rd & short and 4th & short quarterback sneaks. The Tush Push play that the Eagles were highly effective at last year — although they lost their prized cakes when center Jason Kelce retired — will require players line up properly. The only player between the two ends that has an eligible number and breaks the plane of the snapper’s beltline is the quarterback. In fact, those rules were slightly updated to ensure the quarterback is not wearing an ineligible number. While it is legal in the NFL to have more than 5 ineligible linemen between the ends, a fullback wearing an eligible number so close that he breaks the beltline barrier is not.