To the Ravens Fans

[Gwedd]

Come on! Wright got called for the same roughing call on a sack on Flacco. Moss got called for a O pass int.

One of the penalties was on your coach, he should know better. Blaming about the ref's looks like whining.

It was a good football game and both teams played well. The Ravens had a chance to win at the end and didn't- that's it and that's all.

That penalty on the Ravens bench was called because Harbaugh swore at the ref. I heard it load and clear on the television, he called the penalty "bullsh!t" and kept at it despite the referee there telling him to "knock it off".

Regardless, this was a GREAT game, and I give tons of props to the Baltimore Ravens for how they kept playing and coming at thr Patriots. this game REALLY could have gob=ne either way. i am happy how it turned out, but I would have not been surprised if Baltimore had pulled it out at the end.

Flacco is the real deal, and Mason is a great receiver, along with Kelly Washington. I fully expect to see the Ravens again in the post-season.

Congrats to the Ravens and the way they played.

 

[Gwedd]

This is just ridiculous stuff. This guy has been all here all week and has made some excellent contributions to the pre-game thread. He has shown respect to us all week and its understandable that he would be a little bit gutted after the game.

And as an honest Patriot fan, we did ride our luck a little today. We got two crucial penalties to keep drives alive, and Bodden being right behind Faulk to recover the fumble. I still think we were deserving winners on the day but it was very, very close.

Damn straight. Thank goodness Bodden was there or things might very well have turned out differently.

 

[sieglo]

For the record, Suggs did touch Brady's knee. And probably did it deliberately to intimidate Brady.

I'm not a fan of the new rule, but the rule is the rule, and it was enforced correctly.

 

[tombonneau]

For the record, Suggs did touch Brady's knee. And probably did it deliberately to intimidate Brady.

I'm not a fan of the new rule, but the rule is the rule, and it was enforced correctly.

I just loved how nimbly Brady instinctively contorted himself away from Suggs lunging body. And then he just looked right at the ref and was like "Dude, it's my rule."

Flag. Fist pump.

Awesome sequence.

 

[Frezo]

My take is that if a team puts its self in position to "lose" a game from penalties , they played it too close and the little things count! It's all about putting a solid and successful product on the field. I'm sure both teams were subject to sloppy officiating, but the human error factor in the game can't be controlled. The only call in which I was scratching my head about was the spot on the Fake FG. That looked VERY generous. Ohh well though. This lose will make the team more hungry and basically, piss them off and set a fire in the belly.

"Character overcomes adversity, because you've got hearts this big. Was it perfect? 'No.' Was it pretty? 'No.' No, but it was us!" -John Harbaugh

The spot didn't matter. The fact that is was a completed pass did. As soon as it became a completed pass, the penalty became automatic. If it was an incomplete pass, Ravens decline and take possesion. At least that's how it's explained here.

Fake field goal explanation - Extra Points - Boston.com

 

[letekro]

Did you not listen to the announcers? Any contact with the head is a flag which would explain the first one. Also Flacco got a "ticky-tacky" one there too for "blow to the head". The Suggs play was called because it was a hit below the knees. So you can think they were BS calls, but they were the CORRECT calls. For the record, I'm not a fan of all these new rules.

I think the league is right to protect the quarterback. No one wants to see Brian Hoyer and Troy Smith out there in games that count. However, the MANNER that the league went about it is the problem. The league failed to distinguish between protecting the quarterback from serious injury and protecting the QB from getting hit. For example, a helmet to helmet hit could seriously injure the quarterback and should be a penalty, but a slap to the head could not seriously injure the quarterback, so it should not be a penalty.

IMO, there are some good rules that work to prevent serious injury - the "Brady" rule, the "piledriver" rule. But the "blow to the head" one is horrible, IMO. We already had rules prohibiting helmet to helmet, we didn't need to add this additional stupid rule that causes a first down anytime someone taps the QB on the helmet.

 

[Wolfpack]

The two roughing the passers were pretty ridiculous in my mind.

The first was just a bit ticky-tacky, but the PF on Suggs was absurd. The referees were basically judging Terrell's intent as he never actually touched the quarterback, and, without trying to sound bitter, if it hadn't been Tom Brady, the superstar quarterback who had previously suffered a knee injury, I'm not sure the flag would have been thrown.

But the one on Flacco was a good call, right?

 

[alvinnf]

But the one on Flacco was a good call, right?

Worst call of the day was the roughing the passer on Ngata. Close second was the make up call on Mike Wright. That pretty much encapsules the ref's for me, plenty of blame to go around.

 

[Wolfpack]

I think you'd feel differently if your QB was Tom Brady or Carson Palmer or any other QB who lost their whole season because of this hole in the rules. And for the record I wanted the rule before Brady got hurt.

Amen.

A lot of people are complaining about how "this is football" and the QB should be fair game, but the rules are there for a reason. Problem is you never know what injuries you avoid due to the rules being as they are.

If they had put the rule in place after the Carson Palmer incident like they should have, then maybe Brady doesn't lose his entire season last year.

 

[mayoclinic]

The spot didn't matter. The fact that is was a completed pass did. As soon as it became a completed pass, the penalty became automatic. If it was an incomplete pass, Ravens decline and take possesion. At least that's how it's explained here.

Fake field goal explanation - Extra Points - Boston.com

That's very interesting. The ref did announce that the receiver caught the ball and made a first down before assessing the penalty, which is slightly different than what the referee's explanation suggests.

The pass was complete. I'd say it was generous to call it a first down, whether that matters or not.

 

[Wolfpack]

The spot didn't matter. The fact that is was a completed pass did. As soon as it became a completed pass, the penalty became automatic. If it was an incomplete pass, Ravens decline and take possesion. At least that's how it's explained here.

Fake field goal explanation - Extra Points - Boston.com

FWIW, even if it was completed, they can decline the penalty if it had been short of a first down.

Also, once Harbaugh challenges the completion, that allows the referee to review any aspect from the play, such as where the ball should have been spotted.

 

[52decleetzu]

Dear H8R, Decleetz52, Flynismo, BaltimoreFan06, and all the rest:

Great game. Amazing game. Truly a playoff caliber game in early October, in terms of both intensity and level of play. I think the better team won today, but neither team is better by very much. Congratulations on a terrific performance by a terrific team, despite the result being in our favor.

Some thoughts:

1. I really wasn't sure coming in to this game if Baltimore was a championship caliber team. I am now. Your team is the real deal. It is far and away the most balanced and complete Ravens team I have ever seen - not as dominant defensively as some of the past teams, but much better overall. I would have to say that out of our top AFC competitors (Steelers, Colts, Chargers and you guys; the Jets still need to prove they belong there) you are by far the most complete team. I would say that only the Pats and the Giants are as complete.

2. More than anything I was impressed with how professional this Ravens team was. The change from late 2007 is stunning. Harbaugh has brought tremendous professionalism and consistency to the team. There was no wasted effort on trash and no stupid penalties, just 60 minutes of intense football. Kudos to your organization and team for turning itself around.

3. Joe Flacco is the real deal. I've been a big Matt Ryan fan, but so far Flacco was by far the best QB we've faced this year, and looks like he is a potential future perennial pro bowler. Tremendous performance in a high pressure game.

4. I hope Jared Gaither is ok. Hopefully it's just a stinger. You hate to see any player go down. Obviously that was a big loss for you. I hope it's short term. One of the things to learn in becoming a top team is to deal with the injuries and still find a way to win, as we've had to do without Mayo and with other players out for key games (Welker, Wilfork).

Your team pushed us to the wall. I have nothing but respect for how they played. I said earlier in the week that we have a lot more speed and athleticism on defense than we used to have, and I think that's what saved us (barely) in the end. But you certainly played well enough to win.

I hope you guys crush Pittsburgh twice and that we meet in the AFCCG. That would be a good one.

You've been great posters all week, and the game lived up to expectations. Build on this, and we will hopefully meet again this season.

Vade in pacem,

MC

Thanks for the kind words.

It was a great game, pretty pissed at a lot of things right now but it is what it is.

I have a feeling we will meet again sometime in the playoffs, and that will be another good one as well.

 

[letekro]

The spot didn't matter. The fact that is was a completed pass did. As soon as it became a completed pass, the penalty became automatic. If it was an incomplete pass, Ravens decline and take possesion. At least that's how it's explained here.

Fake field goal explanation - Extra Points - Boston.com

I have to say that his explanation sounds a little fishy to me.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

Right, I called the first roughing the passer "ticky-tacky" because although it was the "correct" call, it was pretty much incidental contact with the player lunging at Brady as he was throwing.

The second personal foul on Suggs, however, shouldn't have been called because he never actually touched Brady, period.

Mason was called for a ridiculous pushoff, and Carr was called for holding on Welker, and neither of those calls were really even close to being correct.


My opinion on the officiating isn't going to mean much on this board as I clearly bring in a bias, but I'm honestly be as objective as possible when I say that this was a horribly officiated game.

Flacco's called personal foul was the most blatant of the three, but I agree, his hit was also iffy as the fingers barely grazed his face.

The two teams in the league that get the worst officiating IMO are the Pats and the Ravens. I see the Ravens get jobbed by the refs all the time, going back a few years (and I don't like your team BTW). But The Pats get more crap called against them than most any other team. We get two roughing the passer penalties in every game we play usually, so get used to it. Brady takes more late hits than any other QB in the league. He is the only guy that normally just stands in there and takes WHATEVER the D-Line delivers to complete a pass. But most often the refs never give Brady any benefit of the doubt unless it is a head shot. Our WRs get mugged by other teams on a routine basis like when we played the Ravens last time with Brady. And the refs don't call it. I think because we caught a break in 2001 against the Raiders, people like to claim that the Pats get the calls, and that has never been remotely true. It is teams like the Colts who are wed to the officials that get calls.

And more importantly we have learned how to win despite the bad calls long long ago....

 

[upstater1]

The two teams in the league that get the worst officiating IMO are the Pats and the Ravens. I see the Ravens get jobbed by the refs all the time, going back a few years (and I don't like your team BTW). But The Pats get more crap called against them than most any other team. We get two roughing the passer penalties in every game we play usually, so get used to it. Brady takes more late hits than any other QB in the league. He is the only guy that normally just stands in there and takes WHATEVER the D-Line delivers to complete a pass. But most often the refs never give Brady any benefit of the doubt unless it is a head shot. Our WRs get mugged by other teams on a routine basis like when we played the Ravens last time with Brady. And the refs don't call it. I think because we caught a break in 2001 against the Raiders, people like to claim that the Pats get the calls, and that has never been remotely true. It is teams like the Colts who are wed to the officials that get calls.

And more importantly we have learned how to win despite the bad calls long long ago....

Hear, hear.

I saw one iffy call against Balt today, and that was the hold on Carr on Welker.

 

[flynismo]

The two roughing the passers were pretty ridiculous in my mind.

The first was just a bit ticky-tacky, but the PF on Suggs was absurd. The referees were basically judging Terrell's intent as he never actually touched the quarterback, and, without trying to sound bitter, if it hadn't been Tom Brady, the superstar quarterback who had previously suffered a knee injury, I'm not sure the flag would have been thrown.

Well, it's not so much the officiating as it is the rules. The call wasn't wrong, but the rule is.

That said, does anyone here really think that called should have been made on Ngata for roughing the passer? I think the refs should use at least some discretion when making calls like that.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Well, it's not so much the officiating as it is the rules. The call wasn't wrong, but the rule is.

That said, does anyone here really think that called should have been made on Ngata for roughing the passer? I think the refs should use at least some discretion when making calls like that.

FWIW I think that the call against Wright was at least somewhat legitimate (still kinda weak) whereas the one against Ngata was just stupid. I agree that the rule's messed up. On one hand, I understand that putting provisions for intent really screws things up since it's usually impossible to judge intent, but I wouldn't mind seeing some discretion for cases where it's CLEAR that intent wasn't there (which you could say pretty confidently for Ngata, not quite as confidently for Wright).

Either way, you're right. The new rules kinda suck even when correctly applied, and they're misapplied too frequently for my liking. We got absolutely jobbed on a couple roughing the passer calls in the Jets games, including one where Wilfork was flagged for the Brady rule for hitting Sanchez in the hips as the ball was leaving his hand.

We've been on both sides of these rules as fans, and on the whole I just don't like it. Preventing cheap shots is necessary, but it's not a defender's job to gently cuddle the QB to the ground.

 

[shmessy]

The two roughing the passers were pretty ridiculous in my mind.

The first was just a bit ticky-tacky, but the PF on Suggs was absurd. The referees were basically judging Terrell's intent as he never actually touched the quarterback, and, without trying to sound bitter, if it hadn't been Tom Brady, the superstar quarterback who had previously suffered a knee injury, I'm not sure the flag would have been thrown.

There were THREE roughing the passer calls.

You only care to remember the two that went against you.

 

[xmarkd400x]

There were THREE roughing the passer calls.

You only care to remember the two that went against you.

He's just talking about the two against the Ravens. I'm sure he knows there were three calls.

All three looked iffy.

 

[mars]

Hi,

I like both these teams a lot and this is the first time i am so pissed off after a pats win. Too many questionable calls.