Ravens' John Harbaugh Takes Blame For Costly Issues

The Baltimore Ravens have shown a disappointing lack of discipline this season.

Nov 17, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh (right) talks with side judge Alonzo Ramsey II (80) against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the first quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Ravens saw far more yellow than they would've like to on Sunday, and not just because they played the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Throughout the game, the Ravens took a whopping 12 penalties for 80 yards, compared to the Steelers taking seven for 45 yards. These weren't small penalties either, as many of them negated big plays, put the offense in bad down-and-distance situations or both. In a game decided by two points, those penalties absolutely made a big difference.

The worst part is that this isn't a one-time thing, this has been happening throughout the entire season. Baltimore leads the league with 92 penalties and 763 yards, and it's not even close. For comparison, The next-closest team in penalties is the Tennessee Titans with 82, while the next-closest team in penalty yards is the New York Jets with 689.

No way to sugarcoat it, that's unacceptable for any team, much less one that views itself as a Super Bowl contender. All the penalties signal a lack of discipline, and head coach John Harbaugh knows that goes back to him.

"It stops with me, so it's my job to make sure we're doing the things that we have to do – from a coaching standpoint, from a drill standpoint, from an emphasis standpoint, technique standpoint – and making sure guys understand that it's not OK," Harbaugh said Monday. "It's not acceptable. We've all got to be intentional about getting it stopped, and it's my job to make sure everybody is focused on it."

Nowhere are penalties more of an issue than the offensive line. Patrick Mekari leads the league with six holding penalties, while Ronnie Stanley and Daniel Faalele are tied for third with four each. They've managed to avoid flags in pass protection, but run blocking has been a different story.

"We're trying to put points on the board, and we're getting costly penalties each and every drive," quarterback Lamar Jackson said after Sunday's games. "Every time we were out there, I believe there was almost a penalty each and every drive – that's crazy. But it's a part of football. We just have to overcome it and put points on the board. Because [the Steelers] had 18 points, we had 16. We have to put more points on the board."

More often than not, the Ravens are their own worst enemies with the amount of penalties and other mistakes they make. If they can just get out of their own way, then they're a force to be reckoned with.

"We're probably the best get-back-on-track offense in the league right now – we're overcoming those things," Harbaugh said. "But we shouldn't have to overcome them when you play defense like we played, or you play in a game like we were playing in. Sometimes it becomes too high of a mountain to scale, and that's why we didn't score as many points. That's really the No. 1 reason, because we were behind the sticks too much because of the penalties.

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