[Baltimore Sun] The Ravens lead the NFL in one category nobody wants
Read Time:7 Minute, 30 Second
The Ravens were clinging to a 3-point lead against the Dallas Cowboys with 2:44 remaining in the fourth quarter Sunday and another yellow flag was laying on the turf at AT&T Stadium, this one for holding on linebacker Chris Board during Baltimore’s kick return. As quarterback Lamar Jackson walked onto the field, he could be heard on the television broadcast yelling, “Stop cheating us, bro!”
This week in Owings Mills, the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player expounded on his emotions in the moment, saying he wasn’t “mad” and that “the refs are going to do their job.”
“They only have two eyes – they can’t see everything,” he said. “There’s probably holding [and] all types of things happening every play. I was like, ‘Man, stop cheating us,’ but I wasn’t talking to them, I’m just talking out in the world. I’m playing football, [and] I’m trying to win. That’s all.”
If only the Ravens’ penalty problems could be explained away so swiftly.
Baltimore’s 31 penalties for 278 yards are the most in the NFL through the first three weeks of the season, with two more flags than the team with the second-most, the Cleveland Browns, and 40 more yards than the second-place Miami Dolphins for the dubious distinction. Against the Cowboys, the Ravens had 13 penalties for 105 yards — enough to almost cost them the game, with Dallas scoring 19 fourth-quarter points to nearly erase a 22-point deficit. With 11 for 109 the week before against the Las Vegas Raiders, they, too, played a significant part in an ugly, mistake-filled 26-23 loss.
By comparison, Baltimore’s seven penalties for 64 yards against the Chiefs in Week 1 might seem like small potatoes, but there were costly consequences in Kansas City, too.
Playing the season opener against the two-time defending Super Bowl champs on the road at night after sitting almost all of a team’s starters in the preseason would perhaps fly as one plausible explanation. A few questionable calls the first few weeks perhaps could be another. But there is a worrisome pattern and simply telling players to not commit penalties only goes so far.
At this point, it’s fair to put at least some of the onus on coaching.
So what gives?
“It is really technique,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Wednesday. “There is part of it that is awareness and those kind of things and mindset. There are cadence issues; there are formation things that are more the mental things sometimes – you work on those, too. But the technique is really what it boils down to.
“We just have to do a better job with it.”
Indeed.
The most-oft called penalty on the Ravens thus far has been for offensive holding, with seven penalties for 70 yards. Only the Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers having been flagged more than Baltimore. With three new starters along the offensive line, including first-year player Andrew Vorhees at left guard and first-year right guard Daniel Faalele, along with rotating rookie right tackle Roger Rosengarten, it’s hardly a shock that the group has struggled.
But that’s far from the only area of concern.
In all, the offense has been flagged 16 times, the defense 11 and special teams four. Last season, the Ravens had 102 penalties for 955 yards, 10th most in the league. Through the small sample size of three games this year they are on pace to easily eclipse that mark.
Other penalties where they rank among the worst in the NFL include delay of game (three), roughing (two), illegal contact (contact), defensive holding (two), illegal formation (two) and face mask (two).
Cutting down on penalties has been a point of emphasis for Ravens coaches after three games. (Kim Hairston/Staff)
Asked the day after the Cowboys game if anything stood out in regard to some of the penalties being questionable, Harbaugh said he isn’t allowed to comment. But he did point the finger at his own team for at least some of the blame.
“The things that we can say that we can’t see that are wrong, we’ll ask the league about,” he said. “If they confirm that it wasn’t a wrong play by the guy, then we’ll let them know.
“There are some head-scratchers, but there’s also some ones that are legit, and when you have the number that we have right now, it’s too many. That’s just something that has to get cleaned up.”
Take your pick, there have been plenty of examples where the flags have led to drives being cut short or points for the opponent.
Against the Chiefs, a third-quarter holding penalty on center Tyler Linderbaum wiped out a 29-yard run by Jackson as Baltimore managed only a field goal on the drive. Earlier in the same quarter, a roughing the passer flag on defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike turned a third-and-20 for Kansas City into a first down and two plays later a touchdown. On the Ravens’ failed fourth-and-3 attempt from midfield in the second quarter, an offensive pass interference call on wide receiver Rashod Bateman negated a catch by fellow receiver Zay Flowers and set the wheels in motion.
A week later against the Raiders, there were a number of egregious errors. Notable ones included a Derrick Henry false start midway through the fourth quarter that nullified a successful third-and-1 conversion that would have otherwise kept the clock rolling with a fresh set of downs instead of a punt. Then there was cornerback Brandon Stephens’ pass interference on receiver Davante Adams in the fourth quarter that gave Las Vegas the ball at the 1-yard line to set up the game-tying touchdown. And Ka’Dar Hollman was flagged for being out of bounds on Jordan Stout’s 24-yard shanked punt in the closing minutes, compounding one mistake with another and helping lead to the eventual game-winning field goal.
Last Sunday against Dallas, the Ravens’ offense was flagged three times in the span of just six plays (twice for holding, once for illegal use of hands) in the third quarter. Then there was the illegal contact by safety Marcus Williams on a third-and-5 incompletion with 3:59 remaining in the fourth quarter that resulted in a first down and two plays later a roughing the passer penalty on outside linebacker Odafe Oweh that gave the Cowboys 15 more yards. Dallas went on to score a touchdown on the series to pull within a field goal.
With a more potent opponent this week in the undefeated Buffalo Bills led by quarterback Josh Allen, more discipline than the Ravens showed last week in Texas and all season will be required.
“The first thing you do, obviously they’re not intentional, but you show them the tape,” offensive coordinator Todd Monken said when asked how the Ravens are addressing the issue. “Show them what they are calling, where their hands are, where their body placement is, because that’s a part of it – that we get out of position. Was it a call that put them out of position? All of those things are part of it.
Related Articles
Ravens practice, September 26, 2024 | PHOTOS
Ravens get 2 starting offensive linemen back at Thursday’s practice
Ravens rookie Nate Wiggins provides details on recent car accident involving Lamborghini
Mike Preston’s Ravens mailbag: Answering questions about blown leads and more | COMMENTARY
Ravens vs. Bills staff picks: Who will win Sunday night’s showdown in Baltimore?
“Then just making sure that those things, like anything that we do technique-wise or schematically, is you try to get it corrected. … What is it? Body position, hand placement, what is it schematically, and how can we get it fixed? Because playing clean football [and] eliminating the penalties will allow us to not waste yards.”
Which is exactly what the Ravens have done.
Baltimore leads the NFL in yards per game (430.3). But it is just 11th in points per game (23.7).
While the Ravens have never led the league in penalties since Harbaugh took over in 2008, they did have the second-most flags in 2012 with 121 for a league-high 1,127 yards. Ironically, they went on to win the Super Bowl that season.
But they know they can’t afford to keep making the kinds of silly mistakes that have led to an abundance of laundry on the field.
Perhaps then it’s worth remembering the conversation during their final possession against the Cowboys.
“The conversation was just to execute and to make sure we’re communicating properly – everyone’s on the same page,” said left tackle Ronnie Stanley. “No stupid penalties.”
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0