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Bench Warmer
While there was excitement in the Patriots locker room following their 27-21 win over the Ravens, some Baltimore players questioned the officating of Ron Winter and his crew.
"Without totally going off the wall here, it is embarrassing to the game," linebacker Ray Lewis said. "[Tom] 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. Both of their touchdown drives had personal fouls that kept drives alive. Did that win or lose the game? No, but it got them 14 points."
After expressing frustration at the NFL's roughing the passer rules, safety Ed Reed was asked this thoughts on some of the spots that the Ravens received on close plays.
"Terrible," Reed told reporters. "Nothing to take away from anybody else's job, but at some point, we have to be better about that. This game has evolved too much not to precise when there is a spot, when there is a penalty, when anything is going on on this field. We're too smart as human beings.
"The history of the game -- from where it's been to where it's come to -- to not be precise ... This is a game of inches. This has been a game of inches for years. Now you're putting one person in charge, or two people in charge [of spotting the ball], and they're making things bad. I swear it felt like 2007 almost, when we played the Patriots at home. They don't need no help. They're a great team. They don't need any help from anybody. We don't need any help from anybody. We definitely don't need anyone taking it away from us."
Asked his biggest gripe, Reed said: "It just felt like everything was kind of all over again. You hate to come into a game where you have to play against a team and the officials. Like I said, nothing to take away from their team, nothing to take away from the officials. We have to help each other out in a way to where it's near as perfect as we can be. Like I said, it's a game of inches. We have too much going on with this game, from where it's come to in 2009, 2010, to say we can't be a little bit more precise with things."
Reed was specifically referring to Willis McGahee's fourth-and-1 run in the fourth quarter in which he was stopped for no gain, and the Patriots' fake field goal in the fourth quarter.
"When Willis had his fourth-down try, it probably wouldn't have been a first [down], but it probably should have been a little closer," he said. "The [Patriots'] spots, the guy stepped out of bounds. Even though we got the penalty on that fourth down when they faked the field goal, the guy stepped out and he reached the ball. Cetain things like that. Like I said, you have to play the game."
The Ravens were flagged for nine accepted penalties for 85 yards. The Patriots were flagged for five accepted penalties for 41 yards.
"Without totally going off the wall here, it is embarrassing to the game," linebacker Ray Lewis said. "[Tom] 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. Both of their touchdown drives had personal fouls that kept drives alive. Did that win or lose the game? No, but it got them 14 points."
After expressing frustration at the NFL's roughing the passer rules, safety Ed Reed was asked this thoughts on some of the spots that the Ravens received on close plays.
"Terrible," Reed told reporters. "Nothing to take away from anybody else's job, but at some point, we have to be better about that. This game has evolved too much not to precise when there is a spot, when there is a penalty, when anything is going on on this field. We're too smart as human beings.
"The history of the game -- from where it's been to where it's come to -- to not be precise ... This is a game of inches. This has been a game of inches for years. Now you're putting one person in charge, or two people in charge [of spotting the ball], and they're making things bad. I swear it felt like 2007 almost, when we played the Patriots at home. They don't need no help. They're a great team. They don't need any help from anybody. We don't need any help from anybody. We definitely don't need anyone taking it away from us."
Asked his biggest gripe, Reed said: "It just felt like everything was kind of all over again. You hate to come into a game where you have to play against a team and the officials. Like I said, nothing to take away from their team, nothing to take away from the officials. We have to help each other out in a way to where it's near as perfect as we can be. Like I said, it's a game of inches. We have too much going on with this game, from where it's come to in 2009, 2010, to say we can't be a little bit more precise with things."
Reed was specifically referring to Willis McGahee's fourth-and-1 run in the fourth quarter in which he was stopped for no gain, and the Patriots' fake field goal in the fourth quarter.
"When Willis had his fourth-down try, it probably wouldn't have been a first [down], but it probably should have been a little closer," he said. "The [Patriots'] spots, the guy stepped out of bounds. Even though we got the penalty on that fourth down when they faked the field goal, the guy stepped out and he reached the ball. Cetain things like that. Like I said, you have to play the game."
The Ravens were flagged for nine accepted penalties for 85 yards. The Patriots were flagged for five accepted penalties for 41 yards.
