Let Me (and The Defense) Be Blunt: Forget The Flags

Johnson is correct on a couple of levels. The NFL has made parity such a priority that being a dominant team now does not mean the same thing as it did, for instance, during the Steelers dynasty of the 1970s. The competitive gap between the best teams and the rest is much narrower in the salary cap era, so one call is more likely to make the difference in a game.

That one call also can have more impact now because the new rules protecting the quarterback make it that much easier for him to stay in the pocket and pick apart the defense after the marginal roughing flag negates a big stop.

Ray Lewis made an interesting point during his post-game tirade last Sunday, insisting that if Patriots quarterback Tom Brady really were the victim of a personal foul on the roughing call against Suggs, he wouldn't have been smiling afterward. But that only highlights another reason the new rules make the penalty more costly, since the quarterback often pays no physical price for those 15 yards and the new set of downs.

Still, Johnson said being more "mindful" doesn't necessarily mean being less aggressive.

"You can't slow down," he said. "You've got to stay aggressive."

Lewis, who somehow avoided any league discipline for criticizing the officials and their kid-glove treatment of Brady last week, said that nothing has changed and nothing will.

"Don't adjust nothing," he said. "Just play football."

He really meant Ravens football, with an emphasis on aggressive, no-holds-barred defense that dates to the day he arrived in Baltimore. Lewis, Suggs and the rest of the defense set the tone for the team, and they need to send a message in Week 5 that they are not going to back down.

They need to embrace their bad selves and, while they're at it, put their arms around Palmer a few times, too.

Listen to Peter Schmuck when he hosts "Sportsline" on WBAL (1090 AM) and check out "The Schmuck Stops Here" at baltimoresun.com/schmuckblog.