Going to post a few of my own here before reading the thread:
1 - NFL = no fun league. I disliked watching that product last night.
2 - The official's worst problem, it seems to me, was their inconsistency and lack of ability to set the officiating tone for the game. They called 25? penalties last night after taking most of the 1st quarter off from throwing a flag. They established an "anything goes" enforcement code, and then someone, somewhere told them "get ahold of the game!" So, they did... with a lot of ticky tack fouls. The aggravating thing is the hot and cold extremes. Give us the lukewarm consistent officiating we normally get, and expect please.
3 - Elaborating a little on #1... part of the reason I had no fun with that game was that I was so distracted by the way the game was being called. Over the last decade, we've seen a very particular enforcement code be developed - downfield contact was eliminated, QB's protected etc... we knew what we'd get. Collinsworth said it best last night when he noticed that "grab and hold the RB" is exactly what the Patriots did in 2002 to Marshall Faulk. Within the course of 1 game we saw the rules swinging wildly from 2001 to 2011.
4 - Devin McCourty... man - I dunno. I'm just going to gently step off his bandwagon and back away slowly. Watching him play was occasionally reminiscent of watching something like Jackass, where you get a clip of a bunch of guys at the top of some stairs, sitting in a shopping cart - you know what is approximately about to happen, and so do they, but there isn't much finesse or control involved, everything that happens is reactionary and seemingly accidental. In the end you're not sure whether you're glad you watched it, especially when the scene is capped off with voltage to the groin (IE: P.I. on the 10 yard line when up by 2 in the last 50 sec of a game).
5 - I'd be interested to see how Chandler Jones plays next time he faces Michael Oher. I have a feeling Jones will be using this game as a motivator.
6 - Credit is due to the Ravens. I think the big difference between the two teams is Ray Rice. I thought, when Harbaugh took a 15 yard unsportsmanlike, that the Ravens were about to unravel and the whole stadium was going to dissolve into hysterics. Instead they pulled it together and came back to score 10 points in ~8 min. Kudos to them for having what it takes. Torrey Smith - wow he amazed me - sorry for his family's loss.
7 - I'm pretty sure the Patriots offense is trying to establish itself as a "run anytime" offense. In the 4th Quarter, they rushed 6 times (Woodhead - 2 carries, Bolden - 1, Ridley - 3) and gained 3 yards. I wonder why they rotated their backs by series. I wonder why they went to the no back spread formation when they were trying to kill the clock - nevermind using play action during the obvious running situation. I wonder why they like using the fast out WR screen so much.
8 - I hope Belichick isn't suspended for grabbing the ref. I suspect he will just be fined, but you never know if the MAN will use BB as an example to the other players and coaches to shut up about the refs. The league is experiencing a crap load of bad publicity over this rounding error in their budget, and I feel like Steve Young's statement about the owners not caring because their coffers are filling has some traction with the average fan. Point being, Goodell could come down very hard in order to smack everyone back into line like good little boys who do what Mr. G tells them to do.
9 - I really hope we're done seeing these 4th quarter leads disappear. They're a common theme among the last 3 losses, and they hurt my brain.