During the past week, the Ravens have had to come to grips with who they are and how they're perceived around the NFL ... and we'll find out when they greet the Cincinnati Bengals today at M&T Bank Stadium whether they reached the same conclusion that I did in the aftermath of last week's officiating controversy.
They need to embrace their bad selves.
That's right. They need to serve notice right away that they aren't going to tiptoe around Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer just because their reputation for aggressive defense precedes them into every game.
They need to accept the fact that they play rough and they're going to draw a penalty flag once in awhile, or they'll run the risk of being just tentative enough to give Palmer the openings he needs to knock them off the top of the AFC North standings.
Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying that Terrell Suggs should try to cut Palmer off at the knees or drop a late helmet on him after he lets go of the ball. I'm all for the rules that have been put in place to protect quarterbacks from injury, as long as they are applied reasonably and equitably. What I'm saying is that the Ravens can't stop being the Ravens just because it might cost them a 15-yard personal-foul call.
"We say that every week," Suggs said. "We're the Ravens, and we play a certain style. We're going to continue to play that style. We're going to keep going and see where it takes us. I think next year, they're going to the two-hand touch rule to get a sack, and I'm looking forward to it. Until then, I'm going to be me and we're going to continue to play football the way we play football - and that's violent."
Still, the impact of the two roughing penalties last week was severe enough to make anybody think twice at the moment of contact with the quarterback. Both flags extended scoring drives in a game that came down to a dropped pass in the final minute of play.
Maybe a generation ago, in the heyday of the big, bad Oakland Raiders defense and Pittsburgh's "Steel Curtain," the penalties were just part of it. To use a Wall Street term, a couple of personal fouls per game were already built into the stock price. But that was a different time.
"It's such a different game now," Ravens linebacker Jarret Johnson said.
"There's so much damage from those penalties. In the old days, they could get away with a couple of those penalties. But now, they'll cost you a game, so you have to be mindful."
