Sorting through the call on Suggs that changed Ravens game
I'll just let Terrell Suggs speak for himself as well as referee Bill Carollo. The roughing call was made by Carollo. He said that a whistle blew at the snap but that the play continued. Here goes.
Suggs:
"I think from the way the game was going, I think the referee just wanted to feel important."
"If anybody can show me something I did illegal, then I would be happy to oblige and say, 'I messed up and I got what I deserved, a personal foul.' But when you are nowhere near his head. We hit arms. We hit arms."
"If there is anything I'm guilty of it's playing football, physical football. But they said I hit his head. I was nowhere near his head. In my six years as an NFL player, I've never hit a quarterback in the head."
Suggs said he was trying to get his hand in the passing lane and block the ball.
Part of Carollo's comment. Sun beat writer Jamison Hensley was the pool reporter who interviewed the official.
"We had a false start on the offensive tackle, number 71 (Michael Roos). It was right at the snap. We tried to shut it down and blow the whistle. But the players didn't hear the whistle and they continued the play."
"He got him on the side of the helmet, the right side of the quarterback's helmet. We're blowing the whistle, blowing the whistle. He may not have heard that -- and we're going to give him that -- but he still can't hit the quarterback on the helmet."
Comments
Bill- Do you think Suggs will get fined for the his comments about the ref? If he will get fined, how is Suggs supposed to get his message out???
--------------------------------------------
Ben,
I think the fine is an automatic.
-- Bill O.
Posted by: Ben | October 5, 2008 6:07 PM
The rule about hitting a QB in the head needs to be tweaked, as it is probably called far too tightly. Irregardless, that penalty only gave the Titans the ball 1st down on their own 35 yard line. The Ravens defense then allowed Tennessee to march the final 65 yards for the winning TD. So although the call didn't help, this loss is more on the inability of the Ravens to make a big play on either side of the ball late in the game. Whining about calls is something losers do.
Posted by: teegee | October 5, 2008 6:30 PM
Irregardless of this call, the Ravens defense still failed to keep Tennessee from driing SIXTY-FIVE MORE YARDS down the field for a TD after the penalty. This is what really ticks me off about people complaining about penlties. In most cases, penalty calls do NOT directly influence who wins or loses a game. The Ravens defense had chance after chance to stop Collins and the Titans from driving for that winning TD, They failed to step up. Joe Flacco and the offense had several chances to put more points on the board, but failed -- in part because of the Tennessee defense. I'm not saying the call on Suggs was the right one -- at worse, it looked like an incidental hit on the helmet. What I'm saying is that it was the Ravens play in the 4th quarter -- NOT the referee's call -- that cost Baltimore the game.
Posted by: Roger | October 5, 2008 7:37 PM
They tried to stop the play? What a croc of you know what! Its called repeated whistles and flag throwing Carollo - if you can't do your job correctly, then please get the hell off of our field!
Absolutely amazing that week after week, these guys continue to mess up, and still keep their jobs.
Posted by: Eric in PA | October 5, 2008 8:16 PM
The officiating in the Ravens game was the epitome of how the calls go against the Ravens. Mason was held at the line of scrimage on a number of plays and no calls were against the Titans. The Raven had a false start and the whistle was blown and our quarterback got tackled after the whistle, no call on the Titans once again. The Titans had a false start and we hit their quarterback's arm and we get a 15 yard penalty at a crucial time in the game. Go figure. I am done watching and supporting football until the referees are held responsible for these bogus calls and the non-calls that hurt the Ravens game after game.
Posted by: frank | October 5, 2008 8:31 PM
You know, I don't think Suggs' tomahawk chop would have even hurt me without a helmet. Refs have to use some degree of judgement of force. A blow to the head is one thing, this was a baby tap.
Posted by: GENE | October 5, 2008 8:50 PM
M-O-M-E-N-T-U-M is what changed after that call. As soon as it was made I knew the Ravens would struggle getting the Titans off the field. The defense was shocked and upset (as were all of us in attendance) and Tennessee got new life breathed into them. It was too late in a tough physical match up to just give a team a break like that and expect our defense to overcome it. The short week after the emotional Steelers game and the physical toll of this game itself, plus an offense that musters 3 points out of 2 first half interceptions was too much to ask of the defense to overcome. That alleged penalty was a HUGE momentum swing in a hard fought game and it became the straw that broke the Raven's back.
Posted by: chris | October 6, 2008 12:54 PM
I heard a whistle on tv but the players apparently did'nt with the crowd noise and besides,Sizzle was'nt taking a walk in the park to get to Collins anyway.This man was grunting and groaning to fight off a big blocker and you tell me how much you can decipher with your ears in that kind of environment.It was such a pansy call by an overzealous referee.He gave a high caliber NFL team another chance to continue to win the game and I don't care if we got some calls,too.It looked like a mugfest out there for awhile.
Posted by: Dan R. | October 6, 2008 2:40 PM
I want to see a long range shot of that play from an overhead camera.
When a false start is called, the referee who called it is supposed to run in towards the line of scrimmage blowing his whistle and waving the play dead.
The head referee is supposed to come running in towards the QB doing the same thing and posting himself in front of the QB to protect him.
Carollo never moved until well after he threw the flag at Suggs and I'll bet the ranch that the guy who threw the false start flag didn't do his job right either.
Nobody I saw signalled the play dead until after the pass was incomplete and THAT is unacceptable conduct on the part of that crew.
With the NFL talent pool so diluted and with so much parity, even 1 bad referee's call or action is going to have far too much effect on a game's outcome to just let them go ahead and make mistakes.
The league acknowledged that refs make mistakes when they went to, then expanded the instant replay challenges.
Posted by: Ed Dorsch | October 6, 2008 3:34 PM