Ravens shock Seahawks: The good, bad and the ugly

The Ugly:

There really isn’t a ton to complain about but red zone efficiency is a real concern. In the beginning the game the main concern was that field goals were not going to be enough. The Ravens got in their own way in this game more than they would like to admit. Imagine how much easier things could have been with early touchdowns instead of field goals.

The ugliest part of the game wasn’t really in the control of the purple and black. It was actually the officials that had the worst impact on the process of this sixty minute affair. The officials were lopsided in their use of penalty flags. There were two roughing the passer penalties that were particularly frustrating. The worst call was a first down for the Seahawks that shouldn’t have been before the end of the first half. The Seahawks were out of timeouts and it should have been fourth down. That allowed the Seahawks to score a field goal (or it made it much more possible). The officiating in this game wasn’t something that the Ravens got help from. Thankfully the Ravens performance didn’t allow this to matter.

The Ravens won this game in absolutely thrilling fashion. It was a great game but every contest has things you can nitpick. This was a season defining moment and a game that will never be forgotten in Baltimore. There’s bad and ugly to find in every game yet this is absolutely a time for celebration. The Ravens are contenders and this game is proof of that.