The Ravens aren't blaming anyone but themselves for Monday night's disturbingly flat performance in a 12-7 loss to the Jaguars, but it's fair to say they didn't see eye to eye with the referees on a couple of key plays.
Case in point: Ravens strong safety Bernard Pollard, who was penalized for unnecessary roughness after hammering Jaguars running back Deji Karim on a third-down pass play early in the second half.
Game replays appeared to show Pollard led with his shoulder -- and not the helmet -- but that's not how the refs saw it. The flag gave Jacksonville a critical first down on a drive that ended in a field goal and a 9-0 lead.
"That's football. As defensive backs, we're taught to break on the ball, go get it," Pollard told the Ravens' official website after the game. "But the ref thought it was a foul. So, he called the play. It don't matter what I thought it was. The call's been made."
While Baltimore's offensive game plan was enough to irritate linebacker Terrell Suggs, Joe Flacco's play was a monstrosity. But the quarterback saw aspects of Jacksonville's play that raised his suspicion.
"They were holding our guys a little bit, and it was tough for our guys to get off it and separate," Flacco said. "I thought we would get a couple (calls) early on and we didn't. But hey, that's the name of the game. You can't complain about it and you have to go on to the next play."
One thing that's for sure is that on Monday night, the next play never got any better for the Ravens.
