Ravens Top-3 Penalized Team in NFL

The Baltimore Ravens are one of the most-penalized teams in the league through two weeks.

Sep 15, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh speaks with an official during the first half against the Las Vegas Raiders at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Ravens seem to have a reputation as one of the more-disciplined teams in the NFL, but that simply has not been the case early this season.

Through two games, the Ravens have been one of the most-penalized teams in the entire league. Their 18 penalties are the third-most behind the the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers (must be an AFC North thing), and their 174 penalty yards are second-most behind the Denver Broncos.

The Ravens' penalty woes were on full display in Sunday's 26-23 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, when they had 11 penalties for 109 yards compared to their opponents' three penalties for 15 yards. Fans can say what they want about lopsided officiating, but the fact of the matter is that difference in penalties makes a huge difference in a three-point game and in part contributed to the collapse.

For Baltimore to have any chance of turning its season around, cracking down on penalties as much as possible is a must.

"I would say [that] it's a massive point of emphasis – has been a massive point of emphasis and will always be," head coach John Harbaugh told reporters Monday. "It's just not OK. You can talk about some calls here ... You can talk about a holding call, you can definitely talk about a call that was called as a facemask, you can talk about one of the pass interferences, and those are game-changing plays – no doubt about it – but you can't talk about false starts, and you can't talk about obvious holding [and] things like that; you can't talk about not lining up correctly.

"Those are things that we have to take responsibility for, and that's ... We're not there yet – by any stretch of the imagination – in terms of playing consistent football across the board and not making mistakes that are costing us opportunities to move yards. So, I would say that we cost ourselves more plays than our opponents do right now on both sides of the ball, and that's something that, just, we have to clean up."

Multiple Ravens players have complained about the officiating of their first two games, and while their complaints may be valid, it's not going to get them anywhere. As they look to climb out of an 0-2 hole, all they can do for now is eliminate the mistakes that have been plaguing them.

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