Poor Baltimore. Did the little old zebras do something to hurt those little Raven feelings? According to the NY Times, the Ravens have proclaimed foul and that the zebras gave the victory to the Patriots. Are they completely insane? Did I miss something while going to the fridge for a beverage during the end of the 4th quarter? I don’t think so.
First, it was Defensive Coordinator Rex Ryan, who called time out on the 4th down QB sneak down play that Ray Lewis stuffed and there was no doubt that Brady had not penetrated the yellow first down line. On a 4th down play, how could a DC or a Head Coach be forced to call time out because they do not have the right personnel on the field? This was a 4th down with the game on the line and not a situation during the game where a DC can have his defensive unit out on the field instead of the special teams units. Pretty simple call to make quite frankly. You either play for the 4th and inches QB sneak or you defend against a play action pass eliminating the chance for TD.
Wait a minute. I know what it was for sure. The fact that head Linesman Phil McKinnely called Ravens CB Samari Rolle “boy” after receiving several insults. One of which was “hey, you ever play football before?” Rolle even admitted that his exchange with McKinnely began only after Rolle questioned whether McKinnely had ever played football.
Now, I played organized sports and I too was an All-American, I never dreamed of questioning the integrity of the referee. In fact my coach would have benched me for the remainder of the game and perhaps even more. Plus, I was taught as so many young athletes are today, that the officials are part of the game and that there will be bad breaks and there will be good breaks. The point was to NEVER question the integrity of the official and by doing so degrading the integrity of the game being played. So, I fail to see what “boy” or even “son” has to do with the Ravens inability to focus on the task at hand. That task was to defend their end zone and prevent the Patriots from scoring the winning TD.
By the way, McKinnely played offensive tackle for no less than 3 NFL teams. Also noteworthy were Brian Billick’s post game comments to the press. One in particular caught my eye. He said the timeout was called because his staff did not think the defense was in the right configuration to stop a sneak. What type of configuration do you need to stop a QB sneak? A slight audible by Lewis and slide shift on the line is perhaps all that was needed.
As the game entered its final two minutes, the Ravens went into a full-scale implosion. On fourth-and-5 from the Ravens’ 13, Brady threw an incomplete pass intended for Benjamin Watson. But defensive back Jamaine Winborne was called for holding to give the Patriots a first down. The league reviewed this play and agreed it was the right call. Quite frankly, anyone without bias would not have even needed more than one or possibly two instant replays to see that there was NOT just defensive holding, but also defensive pass interference.
So, it is the same old story. You give a champion multiple times to defeat you and you will lose. This may sound like a blast from the House on the Prairie days, but when you lose your composure and exhibit poor conduct – like throwing the officials’ penalty flag in to the stands – you have already lost in more ways than in just the game in between the lines.
By the way, I had the Ravens as 3* Live Major Dog winner and I also had the OVER for a 5* Monster Winner.
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Poor Baltimore. Did the little old zebras do something to hurt those little Raven feelings? According to the NY Times, the Ravens have proclaimed foul and that the zebras gave the victory to the Patriots. Are they completely insane? Did I miss something while going to the fridge for a beverage during the end of the 4th quarter? I don’t think so.