7 OBSERVATIONS

1. Monday morning quarterbacks will be bashing the officiating at the water cooler, but they shouldn’t be upset with the refs for the Ravens’ two costly roughing-the-passer penalties. They were called correctly. Take umbrage with the NFL for installing all these rules to protect big-ticket, pretty-boy quarterbacks like Tom Brady.

2. The Ravens forgot that their offense is built to run the football. They ran the ball just seven times in the first half. Ray Rice had success with the ground game in the second half, but the Ravens abandoned it on their final drive.

3. Chris Carr is clearly not the answer to the Ravens’ return game issues. His fumble on the opening kickoff led to three Patriots points, and he hasn’t come close to breaking a good return this season.

4. It was cool seeing players on both teams rocking pink gloves, cleats and wristbands to raise awareness for breast cancer research, but I’d love to see an NFL team in pink jerseys. Hey, if anyone can make pink look manly, it’s Ray Lewis.

5. The Patriots only hit Joe Flacco a few times, but their defensive line did a good job getting penetration and pushing back the Ravens offensive line. Flacco wasn’t getting as big of a pocket to throw from as he did in the team’s first three games.

6. Derrick Mason was a beast on the Ravens’ first drive, hauling in six catches for 77 yards and a score. He landed hard on his back when making the leaping grab, though, and only made one catch the rest of the way.

7. John Harbaugh uncharacteristically lost his cool during Sunday’s game, the first time that’s happened in his time as Baltimore’s head coach. He took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the third quarter and cost the Ravens two timeouts with failed challenges. Let’s just chalk it up as Harbs having a bad day during an emotional showdown that felt a lot like a playoff game.

3 KEY PLAYS

1. Ravens fans disagreed with the penalty call against Terrell Suggs for roughing the passer in the second quarter. The penalty gave the Patriots 15 yards and a first down, and two plays later, the Pats scored, putting the Ravens down 17-7.

2. Down by 10 points in the third quarter, the Ravens got a much-needed big play from its defense. As Brady dropped back to pass, Suggs batted the ball out of Brady’s hand. Dwan Edwards pounced on the bouncing ball in the end zone and, just like that, the Ravens were back in the game.

3. In the game’s final minutes, Flacco marched the Ravens down to the Patriots 14-yard line. However, on 4th and 4 with 32 seconds left, Mark Clayton dropped an easy catch that would have given the Ravens a first down and a few chances to punch the ball into the end zone for the win.

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