Akagi
01-16-2011, 02:48 PM
From an article titled
Five Things We Learned in the Ravens 31-24 loss (http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/blog/2011/01/five_things_we_learned_in_the_ravens_3124_loss.htm l)
5. As admirable as it is that the Ravens can win playoff games on the road, if they want to take the next step toward the Super Bowl, they need to take care of business and get a bye and a home playoff game in 2011.
At one point in the third quarter when the Ravens were melting down, the press box at Heinz Field was literally bouncing. It was a little like being in a tiny earthquake, except with a bad pop music soundtrack. Some 68,000 people were whipping those yellow towels around, snarling like bloodthirsty Romans at the Colosseum.
I'll never, ever be one of those people who buy into this idea that the referees are screwing the Ravens. In fact, I hate that attitude. It reflects one of my least favorite things about Baltimore, this whiny belief that no one wants to see the city succeed, and that the failures of its sports teams are always someone else's fault. The Ravens lost this game because they had an epic meltdown on offense in the third quarter, not because of any one call made by the officials. But I do believe emotion and atmosphere play a factor in the way games are officiated, and when the crowd starts going nuts, the officials get caught up that tidal wave of emotion. Studies show it's just a fact. You get more calls at home. (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070403112044.htm)That's one reason why you want home playoff games.
Does Marcus Smith get flagged for that holding penalty on Webb's punt return if it occurs at M&T Bank Stadium? Probably not. It was a really close call. Both guys were grabbing jerseys on that play, and the Steeler defender, Will Allen, flopped when he realized Webb was going to score. (Smart play by him. Christiano Renaldo would have been proud at that dive Allen took.) And maybe in a home game, the officials might take notice of the fact that Jarret Johnson was getting dragged to the ground and blatantly held there on the play before Mendenhall's touchdown run, a play where Terrence Cody was flagged for defensive holding on a run play, of all things.
But that's why home-field advantage is so important, and why the Ravens' loss to the Bengals early in the year truly did end up mattering, no matter how many times the Ravens said it didn't matter. That was the one truly bad loss of the season, a loss to an inferior team. If you want to make a Super Bowl run, you need to win as many games as possible to position yourself to play at home in the playoffs. That stuff matters.
Five Things We Learned in the Ravens 31-24 loss (http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/blog/2011/01/five_things_we_learned_in_the_ravens_3124_loss.htm l)
5. As admirable as it is that the Ravens can win playoff games on the road, if they want to take the next step toward the Super Bowl, they need to take care of business and get a bye and a home playoff game in 2011.
At one point in the third quarter when the Ravens were melting down, the press box at Heinz Field was literally bouncing. It was a little like being in a tiny earthquake, except with a bad pop music soundtrack. Some 68,000 people were whipping those yellow towels around, snarling like bloodthirsty Romans at the Colosseum.
I'll never, ever be one of those people who buy into this idea that the referees are screwing the Ravens. In fact, I hate that attitude. It reflects one of my least favorite things about Baltimore, this whiny belief that no one wants to see the city succeed, and that the failures of its sports teams are always someone else's fault. The Ravens lost this game because they had an epic meltdown on offense in the third quarter, not because of any one call made by the officials. But I do believe emotion and atmosphere play a factor in the way games are officiated, and when the crowd starts going nuts, the officials get caught up that tidal wave of emotion. Studies show it's just a fact. You get more calls at home. (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070403112044.htm)That's one reason why you want home playoff games.
Does Marcus Smith get flagged for that holding penalty on Webb's punt return if it occurs at M&T Bank Stadium? Probably not. It was a really close call. Both guys were grabbing jerseys on that play, and the Steeler defender, Will Allen, flopped when he realized Webb was going to score. (Smart play by him. Christiano Renaldo would have been proud at that dive Allen took.) And maybe in a home game, the officials might take notice of the fact that Jarret Johnson was getting dragged to the ground and blatantly held there on the play before Mendenhall's touchdown run, a play where Terrence Cody was flagged for defensive holding on a run play, of all things.
But that's why home-field advantage is so important, and why the Ravens' loss to the Bengals early in the year truly did end up mattering, no matter how many times the Ravens said it didn't matter. That was the one truly bad loss of the season, a loss to an inferior team. If you want to make a Super Bowl run, you need to win as many games as possible to position yourself to play at home in the playoffs. That stuff matters.