Baltimore Ravens Love Penalties (and Wish To Marry Them)

What exactly has the Baltimore Ravens infatuated with penalties?

Is it that they absolutely have to protect the brand of defense they’ve built over the years? Are they not able to be fast and furious without a late hit out of bounds? Are they so unsure of their blocking technique that they have to hold or block in the back at the most inopportune times?

Whatever the case may be, the Ravens are a franchise marred by penalties, and whether they are disciplined enough to care about it or not, it will make all of the difference if they have the chance to play in the 2009-10 post-season.

Forget all of the previous complaints about the refereeing.

The Ravens effectively box themselves into corners with uninspired lapses in logic, and each one is more poisonous than the previous dart to the eye. The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t take out the Ravens with great play or great coaching, in fact, the lack of the same on the purple bench ultimately led to the Ravens' heartbreaking 23-20 demise.

How many years, how many coaches, how many seasons have to be plagued by penalties costing close games for a playoff worthy team? Eleven penalties for 113 yards today, and shadows of Detroit.html&team=103" target="_blank">Detroit and Cincinnati were well within plain view throughout the second half.

The playoffs have been reduced from a nearby shout to a pronounced whisper, and even if they were to make the tournament, the guarantee of not knowing which team will show up to play is scary enough.

Technorati Tags: Baltimore Ravens , Pittsburgh+Steelers" target="_self">Pittsburgh Steelers