Travis Thomas: Discipline Is The Ravens Achilles Heel
Webster's Dictionary defines the word Discipline as the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience.
Is there any other team that could use some discipline more than our beloved Ravens?
Did anybody else feel sick when the Ravens were flagged for three penalties on one play in Sunday night's loss to the hated Steelers? Now let's face it, the referees certainly didn't do the Ravens any favors in a lot of calls from that game, but nonetheless, the fact remains that penalties impacted the outcome of a big game. 10 penalties for over 100 yards are inexcusable and classless.
During the summer when several Ravens were getting arrested for various crimes, I took callers during my show asking the question: Will this lack of discipline during the off season carry over into the regular season? Most of my callers said that it would not. 99.9% of my callers said that the offseason arrests were an anomaly and Head Coach John Harbaugh would right the ship.
So far it appears as though we were all wrong.
The Ravens are one of the most penalized teams in the league and unfortunately a lot of these penalties come in the most inopportune times of critical games. Currently the Ravens sit in last place of the AFC North and there are a few more big games on the schedule looking forward.
If this team is going to make the Playoffs, Self-Control will need to be exercised.
