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Baltimore Ravens Have A Serious Penalty Problem

By Ben Palmer

Nov 13, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; referee Terry McAulay (77) announces a penalty during the second half of the game between the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins at Qualcomm Stadium. Miami won 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 13, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; referee Terry McAulay (77) announces a penalty during the second half of the game between the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins at Qualcomm Stadium. Miami won 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Baltimore Ravens have a lot of issues with their team right now, but one of the biggest problems is the large number of penalties the team has committed.

There are a lot of things you could point to to explain the Baltimore Ravens’ mediocre 5-5 start to the season. An offense that’s too one-dimensional, injuries, any number of things. But one of the biggest issues the team has had this year is the number of penalties they’ve committed.

As of now, the Ravens are on track to break their franchise record for penalties in a season. As it stands, the Ravens have the second-most penalties called in the NFL right now at 84, behind the Oakland Raiders who have 98.

What’s really been killing them has been the offense. The Ravens have the fourth-most offensive penalties in the NFL right now with 44, and if you compare that to their defense, who only have 24 penalties called against them (22nd-most in the league), it’s pretty easy to see where the problem lies.

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The team leader in penalties, as of now, is rookie left tackle Ronnie Stanley, who currently has seven offensive penalties, which is tied for fifth-most in the NFL. He’s followed on the team by center Jeremy Zuttah and quarterback Joe Flacco who both have five penalties each.

If you look at the types of penalties that the team is committing, it’s pretty obvious that coaching and lack of technique are much to blame. The Baltimore Ravens are tied for the most offensive holding penalties in the NFL with 25, and tied third for the most delay of game penalties with five.

To really understand how badly these penalties are affecting the Baltimore Ravens offense, just look at all the lost yards. The Ravens have lost the third-most yards to offensive penalties with 364. Add those 364 total yards to the Ravens total offensive stats, and all of a sudden the Ravens offense jumps from 23rd in the league to 9th in the league.

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What’s worse is, this has become somewhat of a trend in Baltimore over the past few seasons. Since the Ravens Super Bowl season in 2012, the team is sixth in total penalties. It’s something that desperately needs to change if the Ravens have any hope of turning their season around.

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