OWINGS MILLS — The Baltimore Ravens won’t be fined for making derogatory comments about the officiating during a 27-21 loss Sunday to the New England Patriots, NFL vice president of football operations Ray Anderson ruled Tuesday.
Anderson attended the game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
"Ray Anderson has determined that the comments did not warrant fines," league spokesman Greg Aiello told the 24×7 in an e-mail.
The Ravens were sharply critical of a pair of roughing the passer penalties against defensive tackle Haloti Ngata and linebacker Terrell Suggs where the Patriots wound up scoring touchdowns following both infractions.
“Without going off the wall here, it’s embarrassing to the game,” middle linebacker Ray Lewis said. “Brady is good enough to make his own plays, let him make the play. When you have two great teams that are going at it, let them go at it. Did that win or lose the game? No, but it got them 14 points. It’s embarrassing to the league to let a defensive player play his heart out and you call that.
“A personal foul and he isn’t even touched. He’s a man. They can be hit, just like us. It’s embarrassing. We stop them and then you look back and see a flag or a personal foul and Tom Brady is laughing. It wasn’t no personal foul if he’s still smiling."
Free safety Ed Reed complained about the spots, characterizing the officiating as "terrible" and said it was tough to compete against the Patriots and the officials.
Suggs jokingly suggested that the NFL might want to institute two-hand touch rules to protect quarterbacks.
And Ravens coach John Harbaugh raised the question Monday whether Patriots quarterback Tom Brady receives special treatment compared to Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco.
"I know Joe got hit five different times in the game, hard, and there was one call,” Harbaugh said Monday during his weekly press conference. “Five that weren’t called and the one that was called was the sixth one. Tom didn’t get hit five times.
“We want him to be hit more than he was hit, but when he did sort of get hit, he was called. That goes to the credibility of the whole thing.”
NOTES: Harbaugh reiterated on his weekly radio program that offensive tackle Jared Gaither has a chance to play this week after suffering a severe stinger against the Patriots and being carted off the field. A magnetic resonance imaging exam and X-rays were negative for Gaither. … The Ravens officially placed special-teams ace and reserve inside linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo on injured reserve with a torn left quadriceps tendon that will require surgery and announced the re-signing of linebacker Prescott Burgess off of the Patriots’ practice squad. … Former Ravens kicker Matt Stover tried out for the New York Giants along with Matt Bryant, but wasn’t signed. … Former Ravens wide receiver Yamon Figurs tried out for the Cleveland Browns, but wasn’t signed.
Aaron Wilson covers the Baltimore Ravens for the Carroll County Times and the Annapolis Capital.
