Ravens Sound Off On Replacement Refs

After blowing a 17-7 halftime lead, the Ravens were not a very happy group following Sunday afternoon’s loss to the Eagles.

And at least part of their anger was directed at the replacement officials.

A couple plays, in particular, frustrated Ravens players. The first was the Michael Vick fumble that was overturned on the Eagles’ game-winning drive. It seemed that Vick’s arm was going forward as he tried to throw the ball away, but Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis didn’t see it that way.

“The ball was already coming out, the ball was shaky. He tried to push the ball, but you can’t push the ball if the ball is fumbled,” Lewis told the team’s Web site, adding that you could watch the play 1,000 times and see the same result.

“How can you overturn that? Once again, I believe if the regular refs are here that call doesn’t get overturned.”

Quarterback Joe Flacco took issue with the offensive pass interference call on Jacoby Jones that negated a touchdown against Nnamdi Asomugha.

“I think those guys were on us tight like that all game,” he said. “And there was a lot of holding and grabbing going on out there, and I might sound like a little bit of a baby here, but for them to make that call I think was a little crazy. He didn’t even throw a flag. He threw a blue beanie and then put his hands in the air, like offensive pass interference, come on.”

More from Flacco:

“I felt like I threw a nine route to Torrey [Smith] earlier in the game and he was getting his helmet ripped off or at least ripped from the chest, there’s nothing. Then later in the game when we throw a touchdown pass, there’s a penalty.”

And head coach John Harbaugh saw issues too.

“The challenge for us right now is figuring out what constitutes what,” he said. “What constitutes illegal contact? What constitutes pass interference? Really, I’m not sure on that.”

Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at skapadia@phillymag.com.