It was one of the most bizarre scenes in NFL history: the Ravens and their fans celebrated a much-needed victory after a field goal attempt by Cleveland’s Phil Dawson was ruled “no good” on the final play of regulation. Ravens players rushed to the locker-room believing their losing streak had ended. But their streak of bad luck was not only going to continue, but it was about to get worse.

After conferring, game officials ruled that the field goal attempt was indeed a good kick as it had bounced on the back support bar and therefore had cleared the plane of the uprights. It was the correct call: the kick tied the game and sent the Browns and Ravens into overtime.

But the reversal is questionable in that NFL rules state field goals are not subject to video review. Head official Peter Morelli announced that the reversal came after an on-field discussion among officials, and not due to video review. It’s suspicious that it took five minutes of conferencing to make a final ruling, and unlikely that video played no role in the decision.

Regardless, the correct ruling was ultimately rendered: the kick was ruled good (which clearly it was) and the game was then tied and overtime was necessary. The Browns beat the Ravens 33-30 with a certain field goal by Dawson in the extra period.

Sure it’s a gut-wrenching defeat, but a dose of objectivity (which I feel I regularly deliver) will go further in this discussion than the emotional reaction of blaming the officials and crying that the Ravens were robbed.

The Ravens did not play well enough to win. After Matt Stover tied the game with :26 left in regulation, it was the Ravens that allowed Joshua Cribbs a 39 yard kickoff return, and allowed Derrek Anderson to throw two passes for 24 yards in 23 seconds to put the Browns in position to kick the disputed field goal. Did the refs allow that?

And, it was the Ravens that allowed Cribbs a 41 yard kickoff return to begin overtime, and allowed the Browns four complete passes in four attempts for 34 yards to set up Dawson’s no-doubt game-winner. The refs? Please! How about Joshua Cribbs? The man touched the ball 11 times (7 kick returns and 4 punt returns) and accounted for a stunning 306 yards! And some want to talk about the officials? Don’t waste your breath. The Ravens made a noteworthy comeback and battled to the end, but they lost fair and square.

Begging for charity is unbecoming a franchise the stature of the Ravens (and, for the record- the players have handled the outcome professionally…it stings, but they all know the right call was made and ultimately they are responsible for the outcome- not the officials).

It was a good game and the Ravens competed to the end after trailing by 13 points in the third quarter, but the Cleveland Browns fought hard, too, and the Browns were better. For those who want to write it off as part of the NFL conspiracy against Baltimore and put it on the refs- you would not be dealing with reality. The Ravens have earned a 4-and-6 record (complete with a 4-game losing streak and 0-and-5 record in the AFC North). The difficult truth (having nothing to do with game officials) is that the Ravens are not as good as they were expected to be. That happens in sports sometimes.

The sting of the defeat is acute, it certainly hurts. That pain causes some to want to lash out and blame (and officials are always the easiest target). Go ahead, vent. But don’t lose sight of the reality: the Ravens lost that game on their own while the officials only made the right call at the end.

Posted on Sunday, November 18th, 2007 at 11:52 pm.
Categories: Opinion.
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