i dont think they are getting any more penalties than they did under billick

You are absolutely right. There are only 3 causes for a flag.

(1) The ref has it in for you. Replays clearly showed that was not the case. We earned each and every flag.

(2) Your man got beat. Saw plenty of that.

(3) Your man got stupid. Saw plenty of that, too.

Now, I did notice where the Steelers did some of the same things without getting flagged. Are the refs calling it tighter on the Ravens?

Maybe so, but the fact remains that some of our guys are not doing the job.

What's worse and embarrassing is the type of penalties. Blocking in the back and hits out of bounds are cheap, stupid and inexcusable.

You would figure that, statistically, at least one Ravens columnist would see it as officiating bias. Just look at the fans comments. It's split. But then again, nobody gets paid to tell the truth.

Sure hope the Ed Block Courage Award dinner is held on Holloween night...that way I'll look less conspicuous in my Pit Bull costume.

KC,

At first, I thought the mention of Sam Adams was the former Ravens DG/NG of the 2000 SB team...
but then I realized you were referring to the numbing effect of the drinkable version of Sam Adams.

Totally agree with your post. And I think Harbaugh (probably) recognizes there is a discipline issue, but as with everything else he tries to keep all of the "dirty laundry" in house. He is all about the "team" concept because he never throws anyone "under the bus".

Hopefully, Harb's will get things under control soon...preferably before the next game!

Even though the Ravens are a much more talented team than Oakland, they may not be smart enough to win. Talented & smart beats tough & stupid every time. Remember Bill Walsh?

Leading the league in penalty yardage isn't merely the result of officiating bias. The Ravens have had a long-standing problem with this, and apparently Harbaugh - like Billick before him - is making excuses for it.

The Steelers game is a perfect example. While a case could be made that the Ravens get penalties for fouls that their opponents also commit but do not get called on, there were far too many blatant fouls committed by some Ravens that not only were not necessary for the plays to be successful, but took points off the scoreboard.

Inexcusable. The team should start fining these players, particularly the repeat offenders.

Its about time this paper's bloggers tackle this issue. This is a poorly coached team on all phases. The play calling is atrocious and harbaugh looks bewildered on the sideline. Clock and time our management continue to be a problem. Management needs to start looking into if JH is the coach the Ravens need as they move forward.

Hi Kevin,

Lack of discipline, lack of coaching, bad reputation or a combination of all three?

I tvoed the game and watched it again last night. I think part of it must be reputation because the Steelers lineman spent the afternoon strangling,tackling and nearly ripping Trevor Price's uniform off in plain sight of the officials. I played some of the holds over and over and if that wasn't holding then I don't know what holding is.

The Steeler defensive backs clearly contacted Ravens receivers beyond 5 yards, again, no calls. Todd heap was raped in the end zone. Huh? No call.

Just sayin' if Harbaugh wants to win anymore games he had better send a raft of video tape to the NFL office pointing out the uneven officiating.

And he had better get the coaches and players together to make sure they understand the rules. Some apparently don't

To be sure, the personal fouls committed by Cousins and Ngata were dumb, but 4 penaties for 20 yards vs. 13 for 113 yards? Come on man!

Yes, we'll commit penalties, but the refs are more likely to spot them when we do it, rather than whoever our opponent is. Why are our losses so close? Because if allowed to dictate the result of a game, the refs will do so. No, we have to blow teams out to guarantee a victory. If the NBA referee scandal has taught us anything, it's that these people are human who can AND WILL manipulate the results of a game. Ever wonder why the Raiders are consistently the most penalized team? Could it be because their owner sued the league... what, three times? We are getting screwed people. Screwed.

Kevin,

I can't agree with you more. This undisciplined play is the last vestige of the Brian Billick regime and may be the hardest for John Harbaugh to eradicate.
You can change a offensive playbook and defensive schemes, but ridding a team of bone-headed, undisciplined play usually entails roster moves.

Luckily, most (but not all) of the stupid mistakes are coming from guys on special teams. With an uncapped year upon us, I can see a lot of roster moves on the Ravens to begin the process.

It also appears to me that the ref assoc. is really tuned in to the Ravens and now we have the rep for being #1 in penalty handouts so far this season.Does anyone associate those yellow towels/rags of the Pittsburgh fans with the quality of calls against opposing teams from the refs crew at Hienz field?Don't those things look like penalty flags from a distance?Anybody know where I'm going with this?

Our 1st game with Pittsburgh last year on Monday night in Pittsburgh we were easy ahead when Jerrett Johnson committed the stupidist of personal fouls out of bounds. It gave the Steelers another oppertunity. They scored 14 points in the next 55 seconds. Pittsburgh won in overtime and has never looked back. Harbaugh addresses the undiscipline problem than his players at that point with some modest success. This year Coach Harbaugh has been a failure. His constant backing of players who should be kick in the butt is old and doesn't work with this group. That said, lets go Ravens! Beat Oakland Sunday and lets enjoy our one play-off game. Do we deserve it? We wouldn't be there if we didn't. Beat Oakland maybe we get into 2 play-off games. Why not, the ball can bounce our way too.