The Ravens were seeing red after yesterday's 46-38 loss to New England, and part of their anger centered on the yellow flags strewn all over the Memorial Stadium field.
One of the bright spots of the Ravens' 2-2 start had been their discipline. Coming into yesterday's game, they had drawn only 11 penalties, the fewest in the NFL.
The flags flew like Drew Bledsoe spirals yesterday, when the Ravens more than doubled their season output in that area. They drew 13 penalties at a cost of 146 yards, and those mistakes hurt the Ravens as much as New England tight end Ben Coates or wide receiver Shawn Jefferson.
"That's kind of the game in a nutshell," Ravens center Steve Everitt said. "Always playing catch-up, always putting ourselves in bad situations."
When the Ravens weren't trying to match the Patriots with big plays, they were failing to stay out of their own way. Between the false starts and offensive holding calls that put them in long-yardage holes on first and second downs and the pass interference calls against their defense, they committed a month's worth of miscues.
The second quarter was the most disastrous. After the Ravens had taken a 7-3 lead early in the quarter, the Patriots answered with 17 points to take a 20-14 halftime lead they would never relinquish. And New England's best friend was the yellow flag.
The first penalty, a pass interference call against cornerback Donny Brady, was, at best, questionable. On second-and-10 from the New England 43, Brady was running step-for-step with Jefferson down the left sideline, when Bledoe's long pass fell 5 yards beyond them.
There appeared to be minimal contact on the play, and Jefferson gave up on the ball, but Brady was called for interference, giving New England a first down at the Ravens' 26. Four plays later, Bledsoe hit Jefferson for a 7-yard score to put the Patriots in front, 10-7.
"The refs must have seen something that I didn't see," Brady said. "I have to look at the tape, and if I made a mistake, I'll have to correct it. I can't control the refs if they have jumpy hands with those flags. Football is a physical game. But I can't dwell on that."
"Disgusting," Ravens middle linebacker Ray Lewis said. "I haven't seen the contact yet."
The Ravens quickly answered with a 10-play, 73-yard drive that culminated with quarterback Vinny Testaverde hitting Michael Jackson with a 5-yard touchdown pass to take back the lead at 14-10. But that set up perhaps the most bizarre call of the day.
