The Ravens showed a lot of grit coming back with a chance to win after facing considerable adversity all day.

Yesterday's finish did highlight the fact that the team lacks a big time game breaking receiver. Keyshawn Johnson's comments a few weeks ago about the Ravens receiving corp may have been over the top but there is a grain of truth in what he said, and Mark Clayton proved it yesterday on two passes on the last drive. The Ravens have a stable of possession type receivers and only Derrick Mason has sure hands.

The Orioles lost 98 games this season and I don't remember them blaming the umpires. The Ravens on the other hand, ALWAYS blame for the officiating after EVERY loss, especially from the usual class-less whining jerks. I never hear Derrick Mason, a CLASS ACT, make excuses. Then there is Ray Lewis, who should be grateful every single day to wear purple instead of an orange jumpsuit, who should just keep his whining cry baby mouth shut and play football. You lost; congratulate the winning team and move on. But noooooo; every single loss is the refs fault. Two words: NO CLASS. Then again, it is Ray Lewis.

While I ultimately agree that the Ravens made just enough mistakes to lose, I have to wonder:

Shouldn't a "Roughing The Passer" penalty only be called when said passer has been roughed?

If they're going to call it in such a ticky-tack manner they should rename the call to "In Position To Potentially Rough The Passer" or "Invading The Passer's Personal Space" or "Making The Passer Uncomfortable"...

The irony of yesterday is that Tom Lady wasn't dressed head to toe in pink. How can you call roughing when the QB is standing there smiling asking you to call roughing?

Without the garbage calls I don't think the Pats score more than 16 points...

OK, a few more thoughts:

1. ClassAndClassless, you are an idiot.

2. Yesterday's officiating crew - guilty of Fluffing The Passer!

Please please- enough reference to ESPN and SI power rankings. It's not just the writers at the Sun or the guys in talk radio. Fans need to stop too. We come off so small time when in the week leading up to the Pats game the almighty POWER RANKINGS by the national media have us #1. Enough

K I didn't mean to double post that. I also butchered the second to last sentence. It should read "...leading up to the Pats game all we could talk about was the almighty..."

The Ravens played a great game in Foxborouh against a good opponent and the refs . afew bad spots caused us the game in several ways . The play when a flag was thrown against the Patriots where the receiver caught the ball and went out of bounds was spotted a yard in the patriots faver giving them a first down in our red zone and if spotted properly should have been our ball . The officiating was terrible and should be reveiwed by the NFL and those officals should be fired before it happens again and I will go out on a limb and say it apppeared that the game was fixed by those officials .

Gil,
I'm actually pleasantly surprised by the performance of the WRs this year- Clayton's drop yesterday notwithstanding. Mason has been solid as the go-to guy, Washington has exceeded expectations and turned into a dependable #2, Heap is back in the mix (though I still think we could use him more), and our RBs stretch the defense by making them cover the flt and underneath. And what the team may lack in star-power talent they make up with Cameron's play-calling, which really maximizes what we get from all these pieces.

If I had the opportunity to trade for a top tier player I would go for a cornerback, without a doubt. I think one player like the Raiders' shut-down guy would be the difference between the Ravens being an average defense and top-five team overall, and them being a NFL-leading defense and clear favorite for the Super Bowl.

What would such a trade cost, with the hopeless Raiders already in rebuilding mode? A one pick? Throw in a player or late-rounder? If it means the different between a playoff team and a Super Bowl-winning one, I say it's well worth it.

Think about the impact: having a top-tier corner would shift Foxworth to #2, where he is better-suited, and relegate Washington, Carr (and Rolle?) to matching up against lesser WRs in nickel and dime packages. It would allow us to stop using conservative coverage schemes against top teams- witness the Ravens doubling Moss and doubling Welker for most of the day yesterday- which would keep big holes from opening for other receivers (like Watson) and allow us to blitz much more often. Imagine what this defense could do with two extra players unburdened from the responsibility of filling in a weak secondary. A strong secondary would capitalize on our newfound offensive abilities- teams would be less able to come back with a passing-oriented attach- and it would keep opposing teams from being able to simply avoid our rushing defense and play pass-only offense.

If the Raiders would give up their guy I think this would be well worth it for the Ravens.

Andrew you are absolutely correct about the Ravens need for physical a shut down corner... there aren't too many in the NFL these days.

Where is Demetrius Willams these days and what happened to L.J. Smith? Did he pull a hamstring coming out of the tunnel?

Were they active for the game?

Even though the officiating was horrible, the Ravens still had the game in their hands. Well, that is until Clayton dropped the ball. I think they relied too much on the passing game and didn't establish the running game with a hefty dose of Ray Rice. When they did give him the ball, he was running all over the Pats D. I thought we looked to one dimensional and didn't keep the Pats D off balance.
Yeah the calls were jacked, but what can you do? As you can see on that fourth quarter drive down to the 13 yard line, it didn't matter much. We were still in the game and had a very good chance of winning. On to the Bengals.

The Ravens' Special Team, particularly the Kickoff Receiving Team, is weak, and will be exploited by teams if we do not find a quality player to catch the ball, run, and protect the football. I'm always nervous to see how our Kickoff or Punt Receiving Teams play in the game. They have been very inconsistent with their play with bad field decisions to run or kneel down, and turnovers. Although the Ravens were fortunate to get back into the game, we can't afford to get ourself in a hole with good, quality teams so easy and expect to win.

The Ravens' Special Team, particularly the Kickoff Receiving Team, is weak, and will be exploited by teams if we do not find a quality player to catch the ball, run, and protect the football. I'm always nervous to see how our Kickoff or Punt Receiving Teams play in the game. They have been very inconsistent with their play with bad field decisions to run or kneel down, and turnovers. Although the Ravens were fortunate to get back into the game, we can't afford to get ourself in a hole with good, quality teams so easy and expect to win.

Peter,
I hate to nitpick, but your description of the first roughing the passer penalty as "clubbing" Brady's head was clearly incorrect- and since officiating is a point of contention on this game it is best to be precise. It is especially amusing given that Edward Lee's article describing the same play said that Ngata "appeared to brush" Brady's helmet. Can "clubbing" and "appearing to brush" really be in reference to the same thing? (USA Today called it "grazing")

I think it odd that out of all our hometown sportswriters only Mike Preston had the cajones to call the officiating what it was- lousy. I suppose everyone else is too busy trying to appear circumspect and distinguish themselves from the masses? Is it viewed as bad sportswriting to call out the officials in a game where they made a number of bad and inconsistent calls, clearly favoring one team, to a degree that it was the single largest factor in the game's outcome? Lewis and Reed are willling to take a fine to point out the obvious; normally calm and well-mannered Harbaugh takes a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty; why can't the Sun stand by the team when they are clearly in the right?

Meanwhile, former Pat Rodney Harrison said "Horrible call.. you can't make this call. Tom Brady, if you're listening, take off the skirt and put on some slacks. Toughen up." And Tony Dungy agreed with Harrison, describing the roughing calls as an "overreaction to Brady getting hurt last year... The rule states you cannot hit a quarterback low, forcibly. This was not enough force to make this call."

Why aren't our hometown sportswriters making these kind of direct, honest observations about the game?

Finally, I completely disagree that officiating complaints become "irrelevant" after the game. Do you think the Pats won't get these kind of calls in a January home field play-off game? This is the kind of thing that will happen again and again and again (every week, as Lewis pointed out) until the teams and the MEDIA call out the league and the officials on it. All of the self-improvement opportunities you and the other sportswriters note ad nauseum while ignoring the single most important factor in the loss- that's what is irrelevant. Doing the little things right is what's irrelevant, if the refs are going to hand the Pats double the penalty yardage and turn stalled drives into TDs.

The difference between the Patriots and Ravens?

Patriots lose, they praise the otehr team up and down, including the coach. Regardless of officiating!

Ravens, couldn't be they got beat. Had to be bad officiating!!

Part of the reason the Pats are a model franchise and the Ravens are "also rans".

I wondered how long it would take someone to pull out a reference to Ray Lewis' past legal trouble..."Classless" - you're a friggin' moron. If you knew your ass from your elbow, you'd just shut up. The Ravens have more class than just about any other team in the league. How is it that if another team, like say the Patriots or Steelers, were to lose a game and blame it on poor officiating, everyone would agree with them and say they were robbed. But, if the Ravens get hosed by the refs, they need to stop crying? It's obnoxious. The worst part is I bet Tom Brady probably agrees that those calls were pretty cheap. Like Ray said, he's a great QB and doesn't need the ref's help to win. In this case, though, he got it.

Look it was obvious that the ravens got hosed yesterday,but even with that being said they should have still won the game at the end. What i would be more concerned with if i harbaugh would be how bad dewan landry is playing, little jim leonard played his heart out last year and never even got a tad of consideration to come back. He is better then any kickoff or punt returner then we currently have and he had a nose for the ball and made those tackles that landry wiffed on the last 2 weeks.

I seem to remember a roughing the passer call on the patriots that was just as bogus, don't hear anybody complaining about that! If the Pats get all the calls then where was the flag on Ray "craby baby" Lewis' late hit after Brady had already slid?

the season is 16 games long for a reason. the thing we should take from this game is that the ravens are a good enough team to win any game, even when they're clearly not on their "A game"--and that goes for the coaches too. time to start concentrating on cincy.

A couple of things:

First, the Patriots are the biggest whiners and complainers in the league, that's why they get all the ticky tack calls at home. Nobody bitches and moans (and blames the refs)like the Patriots after a loss.

Second, the complete Ravens receiving corps is one of the better corps in the league. Less than a handful of teams can claim better overall receivers then the Ravens. Heap, Mason, Washington, Clayton, Rice, McGahee. I will take that group over about 80% of other teams receiving corps in the league. Could the patriots use a Randy Moss or similar big time receiver? Sure, but they will score lots of points without one.

Third, our biggest need on this team in my opinion is a defensive linemen or another linebacker who can consistently apply pressure to the opposing QB. Brady had way to much time to throw on numerous plays yesterday because we could not apply pressure. Right after that need is the shutdown corner, although I believe our corners will improve during the course of the season.

Overall the Ravens defense has fallen off from recent years while the offense has taken off. We need more talent on defense and I predict in next years draft the Ravens will be after a player who can pressure the QB or play shut down defense at the corner.

Offensively we are set for the next decade.

Robert, you are an idiot. If you actually watch the comments, Ray was more criticizing the rules than the officials. "also rans", really? I'm sorry how did the Pats do in the playoffs last year. And he gave the Pats lenty of praise. The officiating was abysmal. If Phil Simms, who hates the Ravens, is critical of calls then they must be bad. And Lori, obviously you don't watch must football because a quarterback is fair game at the beginning of the slide. Cry baby Ray, huh. Yeah like Brady crying for a flag. Even Rodney Harrison called Brady a girl. So stick to making delicious nachos and leave the football to the men. And classless, get some new material about Ray besides something that happened 10 years ago. He was acquitted d-bag. Boston fans are so delusional, it makes me sick. Your coach cheats, its no big deal. Ortiz does steroids, its cool as long as he gets to 30 hrs this year. They get calls that they don't deserve, the Pats just outplayed their opponent. But put the shoe on the other foot and watch them whine when they don't get their way.

Two upper echelon teams, closely matched, play to a near draw. What makes the difference? Zebras. You cannot excuse bad officiating by saying one team should decisively beat the other when both teams are so close in terms of ability. The officials sucked. They really acted like they had no clue sometimes.

Pats didn't get into the playoffs because of a tie breaker to the Ravens not because the Ravens were the better team. Brady's slide was over and I have watched a lot of Ravens games and know that they just can't seem to give credit to the other team, it is always the refs fault The Patriots don't whine when the lose they praise the other team. As far as Ortiz goes, more Orioles have been caught using steriods more then any other team so I guess they really don't help improve play!
All teams cheat, you can ask any coach, the Patriots just got ratted out by one of their own. Can I get your nacho recipe?

oh for petessake you said it all. I'm still lol

To add to Rodney Harrison and Tony Dungy quotes already mentioned above, here's what Peter King had to say today: "Ron Winter's officiating crew had the worst day a crew has had all season in New England.... I know the guys in the NBC studio sure feel the Ravens got jobbed."

These folks sure are lining up to talk about the role of the officiating in the Ravens loss, and I'm sorry to "Lori" and "Robert" but they have a bit more credibility than you do.

When will we see a strong argument on the Sun's pages pointing out these same things that commentators across the country are talking about?

Like your stories and your blog, Schmuck, it's funny to hear the fans (and Ray Lewis) whine & wahh about the refs, when you could have won the game if your receiver just caught the damn ball. The Pats gone hosed for two roughing calls against Buffalo that were worse than these calls -- they played through them and WON the game. That's what MEN do. BOYS whine and throw temper tantrums. That said, you have a good team. Just quitcherbellyachin'

Good calls or bad, the fact is that the defense didn't step up after those penalties. There's no rule requiring a defense to allow drives to end in touchdowns after bad or questionable call, let alone a good call.

Our offense, which had averaged 34 points per game against weak and mediocre defenses, scored only 14 points. No good.

And the special teams fumble.

It was a team loss.

To add to Rodney Harrison and Tony Dungy quotes already mentioned above, here's what Peter King had to say today: "Ron Winter's officiating crew had the worst day a crew has had all season in New England.... I know the guys in the NBC studio sure feel the Ravens got jobbed."

These folks sure are lining up to talk about the role of the officiating in the Ravens loss, and I'm sorry to "Lori" and "Robert" but they have a bit more credibility than you do.

When will we see a strong argument on the Sun's pages pointing out these same things that commentators across the country are talking about?

What a bunch of cry babies. Waaa! The refs! Waaa! Tom Brady! Waaa! Last year! Pats 27-Ravens 21. End of story losers! Now go root for the Orioles, or your NHL & NBA teams.

it is nice to see the ravens defense be aggressive,but roughing the passer penalties is uncalled for.that is just giving the game away.getting those roughing the passer penalties were the fuel the patriots needed to defeat the ravens. it was a high profile game,but the ravens defense needs to keep their emotions under control in these type of games the rules were changed because of over zealous players going after the quarterbacks

The Ravens made enough mistakes of their own to lose this game, but the NFL's need to protect Lady Brady and his million-dollar gams is too much. Just because he's hitched to a supermodel doesn't mean the NFL should treat him like one.

To add to the quotes already- Rodney Harrison telling Brady to lose the skirt, Tony Dungy saying the roughing calls were plainly wrong, and Peter King saying the whole NBC studio thought the Ravens were jobbed- Michael Wilbon said this during afternoon Q&A:

"I did watch a lot of that game and the problem I have is the NFL getting to the point where certain QBs, Tom Brady at the head of the class, cannot be touched. The NFL ought to be embarrassed but I'm sure isn't about creating a situation where certain QBs are so favored that it swings the balance of competition. It's shameful, really. Brady can't be touched anymore? Then why play the Patriots. Just reward them the Super Bowl trophy and let everybody go to Hawaii. It's absurd. If Tom Brady wants to have his knees protected then he should play golf. I laughed out loud when Rodney Harrison said on NBC that Brady should take off his skirt and put on some slacks. Ha! Look, I'd take Brady in a black strapless evening gown on my team anytime. He's going to the Hall of Fame as one of the dozen great QBs ever ... Maybe top seven or eight ... But you can't touch him? Are you kidding me? Please."

Prominent NFL experts and sportswriters continue to come out saying the officiating yesterday, yet the Sun remains eerily silent on this aside from a good Preston blog post.

Meanwhile, all the Pats fans can muster on this blog is "waaaah. you lost. crybabies..." Is that what passes for intelligent debate now in Boston, or has the city decided to have its case represented by a pack of 10-year olds? At any rate, it really says something about the class of an organization and its fans that it is not only perfectly fine with winning because of incompetent, biased officiating (rather than the merit of their team's play on the field), but THEN also have the gall to be ungracious winners. This says to me that winning unfairly isn't a new experience for Boston sports fans, but rather something they've grown comfortable with...

No rings since Spygate and no WS trophies since the Manny/Ortiz steroid train left town. That's really a lot to be proud of, guys.

The fact that the Ravens can play an inconsistent, good-and-crappy game at New England and still almost win would suggest that if they can ever pull it all together, look out.

I was hitting the TV screen with my baseball hat after the Clayton drop. My daughter now thinks I am insane, which, of course, I am (on Sundays).

As a Patriots fan and Massachusetts native, and a Californian for the past 17 years, I thought it was a good game-- a close game against two evenly matched teams.

The Ravens played hard and its hard not to point to those calls against Brady. But I think the narrative is the rules as written and enforced against all QBs in the league. The calls were made as the rules were written. If a player touches the QBs face, the refs are taught to throw the flag. Period. The rule should be modified, not the calls.

Following the Patriots closely, I never hear them blame refs for a loss. Ever. All I know is that when you point a finger at someone else, there are three pointing right back at you. There were many things the Ravens could have done to win the game, outside of any officiating. Was the officiating responsible for the 4th down failures? For the dropped pass to end the game? For the interception? For the fumble to start the game and three points?

Come on guys... I think Rick Pitino said it best.. blaming the refs for a loss is for losers. Stay away from that game, because as the years go by, EVERY team is the beneficiary of calls and has calls against them. It evens out over the course of a year.

The Ravens can improve in many facets of the game and just have to work to get better. They are not far from being a really good team. Would they have been complaining about the calls if that last pass was caught and they scored a TD and won the game? I doubt it. It would have been a "great win" for the Ravens with nary a mention of the officiating, other than perhaps in passing.

Technically they called the blow to the head wrong, since Ngata slapped him trying to swat his arm passing. It is like they came up with the rule to combat 60's style clothesline tackles or something. It was a good flop job by Brady, having his chin strap undone so he looked like he really got hit. In fact, Brady almost looks like a punter doing an acting job after getting nicked on a kick.

At least on the Flacco rough call, they got that right. On replay, you see the lineman smacked him clean across the face.

Say what you will about the Ravens, but they play clean. Especially Ngata. He is a class act all the way. He is not trying to hurt anyone.

Also, you can't go into a slide at the last split second to avoid tackle and expect to not be gently landed on.

They showed a good replay on a Brady to Welker pass that showed the O lineman hugging the ravens D lineman try to get through the middle. the O lineman was facing the sideline hugging the rusher with his arm across his chest like he was tackling him.

I was also waiting for Jarret Johnson to get flagged for Aggressive Squeezing of Queen Brady.

That is why they sh!t the bed in the SB... Brady was soft and he went the entire season untouched until meeting Strahan and Umiyora (sp?)

Play like a man, not a sleazy personal injury attorney. He almost hit me! Its in the rules! call it!!!

The nfl needs to start calling games like the nhl in the cup finals. Let the players decide and not the referees. Almost getting to be like the MLB with all the garbage strike zones and umpires bigger than the game.

It's hilarious how fans of the Patriots and Duke basketball- when enjoying yet another ref-assisted win- can so naturally talk down to fans of other teams about how they never complain about officiating. With a straight face. As if they ever have anything to complain about?!

The Patriots are regular beneficiaries of uneven officiating. As Wilbon pointed out (in an earlier post above), referees' treatment of Brady is clearly different than of other quarterbacks, to such an extreme degree that it alters the outcome of games.

All players and fans can ask for is 1) that calls be made fairly and consistently from team to team, and 2) that referee's involvement in the games be minimized as much as possible so the games can be decided by the competition on the field. On both counts, the referees failed yesterday.

This is something any fan should be concerned about, since it hinders the quality of the competition and destroys the legitimacy of the outcome.

On the other hand, the Patriots didn't deserve to win a game in which a ref's generous 18 inch error made the difference.

I agree with your game analysis, Peter, except for the point of your last sentence. Neither team earned a clear victory. Neither merit bragging rights. But one lucked out and got a W in the standings.

I've been on the Pats bostonglobe.com blogs for a couple of days and I have never seen so many people in denial about the refs giving Brady special treatment. Heck, I think I saw one of the zebras with his pink thong strips showing over his low-rise tights, offering to change Brady's maxi-pad as he was walking to the locker-room.

I congratulated them on the win, but I told them that the zebra calls were BS but no one, I mean no one, will take their Brady glasses off, man-up and admit that the zebras got it wrong, regardless of the national media calling it BS.

What a horrible, spoiled, bunch of Brady-loving babies they are.

So the Ravens got screwed by the Refs., what else is new?
The plain fact is the Ravens could have won this game. Why they didn't run more is baffling. Whenever they did run, they moved the ball well. If they had kept up the pressure with the three headed monster (one head of which never got to play) they would have worn down the Pats D line, and kept Brady off the field. Like everyone else here I am delighted to at last have a quality NFL level QB and offense this year, but the Ravens need to stop being so desperately in love with the passing game and go back to a more balanced attack. They should have spent the second half of the game jamming the ball down New England's throat.

You Baltimore fans are pathetic. You never give the winning team any credit. It's always the refs fault.
You should hear yourselves.
It's really whining.
You evidently think that you should never lose a game, anmd when you do it's someone elses fault.
You make me sick

Pete's take: The way I look at it, if the game came down to a ball spot that was 18 inches short, you probably didn't play well enough to win.

Sorry, Pete. I like your columns, your radio show and your opinions but this is one of those prevailing witicisms sportswriters like that makes no sense. It implies neither team deserved to win.

I agree with Ray Lewis (and others) that the rules seem to have swung too much to protect the QBs even though the general concept is sound. The only really bad call was the spot that declared a first down on the fake FG. That did cost the Ravens three points outright.

However, the difference in the game was six points and what might have happened is pure conjecture. The fact remains the Patriots outplayed the Ravens as there was an awful lot of nothing going on offensively for the Ravens between their opening drive and the TD that made the score 24-21 at the time.

Hopefully, the Ravens are preparing for the Bengals. The Bengals are no juggernaut as they came within four seconds of tying the Browns but since Week 12 of last year, they have been playing very credible football and could prove to be the nuisance that won't go away.

Um, are we Ravens fans unable to look objectively? Why is there not a single mention on this page of the fact that New England received a roughing penalty too?!! (Mike Wright's hand raked across Flacco's head, but the tackle itself was not rough - another ridiculous call.) Patriots also got called for this against either Sanchez or Trent Edwards earlier this season - also ticky-tack. It's not the Ravens, folks, it's the stupid rule. They lost; get over it.

Pete - I only have one burning question from Sunday's game - Exactly when did Foxboro become Foxborough?

...............................................................................................
Pete's reply: Good question. Foxborough is AP style. All the signs there say Foxboro, but the police uniforms say Foxborough. Strange.

Refs or no refs blowing calls, fumbles or no fumbles, whatever...championship teams come up with that catch at the end of the game. I like Mark Clayton but he needs to catch that ball. Again, championship teams come up with that catch or even better the one in the endzone on third down.